Introduction

     What do you know about Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers? You can learn about their amazing careers and accomplishments too. I will compare Tom Brady's and Aaron Rodgers' to decide who is the better quarterback. So let us begin the fight!

College Careers

      Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers both had successful college careers, but neither player had amazing college careers that predicted that they would become all-time great quarterbacks.

     Aaron Rodgers was an undersized player in high school. Did you know that he could not find a Division 1 college that would let him play quarterback, so he considered quitting football to play baseball instead?

     Tom Brady was the backup quarterback his first two years at Michigan. His team was undefeated and won the National Championship when Tom Brady was on the bench not playing. 

     Did you know when Tom Brady finally got a chance to play the next year as a junior, his team lost 2 of its first 3 games, and people wanted to bench him so a freshman could take over his job?

      Finally, both players got a chance. Aaron Rodgers threw 26 touchdowns playing for Butte Community College. He moved up to the University of California where he tied an NCAA record with 26 consecutive completed passes. Rodgers set a record for the lowest interceptions. 

    Aaron Rodgers led California to a 10-1 record and a top 5 ranking, but he lost in the Holiday Bowl. In both of his seasons at the University of California, Rodgers ended the season losing in the college bowl game.

    As a starter, Tom Brady led the University of Michigan to 20 wins and 5 losses. He set a school record for most passing yards in a game with 375 yards against Ohio State. 

    In his final college game, Brady passed for 369 yards and led Michigan to a dramatic 35-34 come-from-behind victory in the Orange Bowl against Alabama. In both of his seasons as a starter at Michigan, Brady led his team to victory in the college bowl game at the end of the year.

Backup Quarterbacks

      Coming out of college, Tom Brady was not considered to be a top prospect. He did not get drafted until the 199th pick in the NFL Draft in 2000. As a rookie, Tom Brady was a backup quarterback to the starter Drew Bledsoe, and he was not expected to play. In his rookie year Tom Brady completed only one pass for 6 yards.

    Aaron Rodgers was considered a top prospect coming out of college. He was drafted with the 24th pick of the first round by the Green Bay Packers in 2005. Unfortunately the Packers already had a star quarterback Brett Favre who had led the team to a Super Bowl victory. So Aaron Rodgers had to be a backup quarterback for the first three years of his career in 2005, 2006, and 2007. 

Tom Brady's Chance to Start

      Tom Brady was expected to keep being a backup in 2001 (and probably for the rest of his career). The Patriots lost their first two games, and then Drew Bledsoe got seriously injured. The season looked to be a disaster.

    In Tom Brady's first game as a starter for the New England Patriots, his team surprisingly won 44-13 against the Indianapolis Colts. Then the Patriots kept winning with backup quarterback Tom Brady. Brady won 11 of his 14 starts in 2001 and led the Patriots to an unexpected spot in the playoffs.

   Brady won his first playoff game in overtime 16-13 against the Oakland Raiders. The Patriots were losing by 10 points in the fourth quarter before coming back to win. The Patriots won the next playoff game against the Steelers even though Tom Brady hurt his knee. 

    In the 2001 Super Bowl the New England Patriots were HUGE 14-point underdogs to the NFL's top team, the defending champion St. Louis Rams. Nobody thought backup Tom Brady had a chance. But the Patriots jumped out to a 17-3 lead. Then the Rams came back to tie the game. There was only 1:30 left in the game. The ball was all the way back at the 17-yard line.

    Tom Brady gradually led the Patriots down the field. With only seven seconds left in the game, Tom Brady spiked the ball at the 31-yard line. As the clock ran out, Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal to win the game. 

   Backup Tom Brady became Super Bowl winner Tom Brady. This would be the start of a legendary career full of close victories and dramatic come-from-behind wins.

Aaron Rodgers Chance to Start

      Aaron Rodgers had to wait a lot longer to get his chance. He was a backup to Brett Favre for the first three years of his career, and he hardly ever got a chance to play. Finally in 2007, Brett Favre got injured playing against the Dallas Cowboys.

     Aaron Rodgers didn't lead the Packers straight to victory and a Super Bowl championship like Tom Brady. The Packers lost to the Cowboys, but Aaron Rodgers played well enough to earn the starting quarterback  job for the 2008 season when Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets.

    In Aaron Rodgers' first year as a starter in 2008, he passed for 4,038 yards with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. In comparison, in Tom Brady's first year as a starter with the Patriots, he only passed for 2,843 yards, with 18 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. When comparing these statistics, Aaron Rodgers' numbers are much better than Tom Brady's numbers.

    But there is a big difference! Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to a record of 6 wins and 10 losses in his first season starting. Tom Brady led the Patriots to 11 wins and only 3 losses, and then he led the Patriots to a Super Bowl victory. So sometimes just the numbers alone don't tell the entire story.

Tom Brady's Career Statistics

       Tom Brady had a total 89,214 passing yards in the regular season in his 23-year NFL career. He passed for a total of 649 touchdowns and 212 interceptions. Tom Brady holds the NFL records for most career touchdown passes and most career passing yards.

     Tom Brady's Passer Rating for his career is 97.2. This is the 11th highest career Passer Rating in the NFL. He completed 64.3% of his passes.

    During his career Tom Brady was named as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NFL three times, in 2007, 2010, 2017

     Finally,  when Tom Brady was the starting quarterback, his teams had an overall record of 251 wins and only 82 losses. 

Aaron Rodgers' Career Statistics

      Aaron Rodgers has a total 59,055 passing yards in the regular season in his 19-year NFL career so far. He has passed for a total of 475 touchdowns and only 105 interceptions. One way that he outshines Tom Brady is that Aaron Rodgers has much fewer interceptions.

     Aaron Rodgers' Passer Rating for his career is 103.6. This ranks first as the all-time highest career Passer Rating in NFL history. Rodgers has completed 65.3% of his passes.

     Finally, in the regular season games when Aaron Rodgers was the starting quarterback, his team has an overall record of 148 wins, 75 losses, and 1 tie.

Tom Brady's Best Seasons

      In Tom Brady's best season in 2007, the New England Patriots were undefeated with 16 wins and 0 losses. This is the NFL record for the most wins in a season without a loss.

    That year, Tom Brady had 50 touchdown passes with only 8 interceptions and a Passer Rating of 117.2.

    Also, in 2021 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady passed for 5,316 yards, which was the highest total in his long career.

    Tom Brady earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award three times in his NFL career, in 2007, 2010, and 2017. 

Aaron Rodgers' Best Seasons

      Aaron Rodgers' most successful season was 2011, when he led the Green Bay Packers to 14 wins and only 1 loss in the games he started at quarterback. He had 4,643 passing yards and a Passer Rating of 122.5. This is the highest ever season Passer Rating in NFL history.

    Also, in 2020 Aaron Rodgers completed 48 touchdown passes with only 5 interceptions.

    Aaron Rodgers earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award four times in his NFL career, in 2011, 2014, 2020, and 2021.

Tom Brady's Super Bowls

        Tom Brady led his team to the playoffs in 20 different seasons over his career, with an overall playoff record of 35 wins and 13 losses. He has a playoff winning percentage of 72.9%.

    Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to victory in the Super Bowl in six different seasons in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, and 2018. Also, he led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory in 2020.

    Tom Brady's seven Super Bowl rings are the most by any player in the history of the NFL. Tom Brady has an overall record of 7 wins and 3 losses in the Super Bowl.

   Tom Brady also holds the record for the most passing yards in a Super Bowl game, with an incredible 505 yards passing in Super Bowl LII, a game he lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.

     Tom Brady was named as the Super Bowl MVP five times, in 2002, 2004, 2015, 2017, and 2021.

Aaron Rodgers' Super Bowl and Playoffs

        Aaron Rodgers has led his team to the playoffs 11 times during his career, with an overall playoff record of 11 wins and 10 losses. He has a playoff winning percentage of 52.4%.

    Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers to victory in the Super Bowl in 2011. He won the Super Bowl MVP award in Super Bowl XLV, when the Packers beat the Steelers by a score of 31 to 25. That is the only time Aaron Rodgers has played in the Super Bowl.

    Aaron Rodgers has a record of 1 win and 4 losses in the NFC Championship Game. In three seasons in 2011, 2020 and 2021, his Packers team had the number one seed in the playoffs but lost a home playoff game to miss out on a golden chance to go to the Super Bowl.

 Conclusion

      Looking at these facts, I think Tom Brady is a better quarterback than Aaron Rodgers because he led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl victories and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to another Super Bowl victory.

     Also, Tom Brady's overall playoff record is much better than Aaron Rodgers. Tom Brady has 35 wins and only 13 losses in the playoffs. Aaron Rodgers only has 11 wins and 10 losses, and he only won one Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers.

     Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady both have some amazing career statistics, but Tom Brady has a long career full of winning games when they matter the most in the playoffs and Super Bowl. That's why I like Tom Brady better than Aaron Rodgers.