Tom Brady is Out of the Top 5 on the NFL 100 List and I Don't Hate It

So for the first time since 2016 somebody other than Tom Brady was selected by his peers as the No. 1 player on the NFL Top 100 list. And for the first time since they’ve been doing these things, Brady didn’t crack the top five. I don’t know if I’ve made this clear, but I have somewhat of an appreciate for Brady and the way plays tackle football. So if I’ve given any sort of other impression otherwise, allow me to dissuade you of that false notion and state that, in no uncertain terms, I admire his work.

So it would be reasonable to think I’d be hacked off about his demotion from No. 1 to No. 6. But no. You’d have me all wrong. I’m content with this ranking. And I think I’ll be able to console myself with this incredible 6-minute piece of high quality Patriots porn, with Taylor Lewan, Von Miller, Mark Daniels and some of Brady’s own teammates marveling at the fact he’s the best there has ever been, his work ethic, his drive to be better after 19 seasons and how he’s unstoppable when it matters most. Well, this video and the sixth ring he just got.

I’m fine with this because, first of all, if you look at the five players ahead of him:

1. Aaron Donald
2. Drew Brees
3. Kahlil Mack
4. Patrick Mahomes
5. Todd Gurley

… you see five guys he went a combined 5-0 against last year. Expand the list to the Top 15 and he’s 8-1, adding wins over No. 8 Aaron Rodgers, No 11 DeAndre Hopkins and No. 12 JJ Watt. With his only loss coming against No. 7 Antonio Brown.

So in that way, this drop in the rankings is a positive. It’s a call back to an earlier and, in some ways, simpler time. To the days of the early part of the Dynasty when no Patriots got the individual awards or recognition of any kind. When year after year they’d beat a past, current or future league MVP in the postseason. Acclaimed and celebrated greats like Rich Gannon, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Peyton Manning or Steve McNair. Guys like them would end up with the individual awards, the book deals and the broadcast jobs, while the Patriots would end up only with trophies, rings and beers lobbed up to them on the back of a Duckboat.

This most recent era of the Dynasty is great. I don’t hate it when Brady is the No. 1 on this ranking or Stephon Gilmore is the top ranked cornerback. But there’s just something special about seeing them get slighted this way. As the Patriots dominance heads into the early part of its THIRD decade, that Disrespect Card can get harder to find, much less play. So every phony scandal, suspension, rule change, allegation of cheating or sign that the other NFL players think Brady is slipping is more than welcome.

This will probably mean he’ll stay an extra hour after practice for the rest of August. That’s why I have no problem with this. The people who downvoted Tom Brady just signed their own death warrants. So thanks.