Tom Brady was 24 years old when he and his former team, the New England Patriots, won Super Bowl 36 against the Rams in 2002. That would be the first of Brady’s record six Super Bowls.
Patrick Mahomes was 6 years old.
Six.
That’s how old Brady is. As Brady won his first Super Bowl, Mahomes was still in the first grade — probably not even tall enough to ride half the rides at Disneyland.
Unsurprisingly, the 18-year age gap between the two starting quarterbacks is the biggest in Super Bowl history.
One quarterback is 43 years old and wrapping up the tail end of his legendary career with accomplishments no NFL player will likely ever topple (6x champion, 4x Super Bowl MVP, 3x MVP and 14x Pro Bowl). He is widely considered the GOAT.
The other quarterback is 25 years old in the beginning of his career. Mahomes is off to arguably the best three-year start of any quarterback in NFL history, with already a regular season and Super Bowl MVP under his belt.
Super Bowl 55 is one generational talent going up against another generational talent. It’s like seeing a fictional matchup of Jordan against LeBron or Ali against Tyson.
It is a matchup that has potential to be one of those games we talk about 50 years from now.
What’s at stake for Tom Brady
Nothing.
The sport’s only six-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Super Bowl MVP has already reached the pinnacle of NFL greatness. There’s nothing left for him to prove.
Alright, the real answer is a seventh Super Bowl win will further distance himself from everyone else as the greatest football player ever. (By greatest, we really mean most accomplished.)
Some pundits believe Mahomes has a chance to eventually catch Brady’s six championships. Brady preventing Mahomes from winning back-to-back titles would significantly lessen the chance Mahomes ever catches Brady.
Winning a seventh Super Bowl on a historically mediocre franchise like the Buccaneers would also benefit Brady’s reputation to all those who refuse to give Brady the credit he deserves in winning six rings as a Patriot.
It will further solidifying Brady’s value as an all-time great player even without coach Bill Belichick.
The NFL’s greatest dynasty that hails from New England has garnered the age old question: “Was it more Belichick or Brady?”
If Brady ends up winning a Super Bowl in the duo’s first year apart while Belichick missed the playoffs, that argument will heavily be in favor of the quarterback.
Well, at the very least for one night.
What’s at stake for Patrick Mahomes
There is a lot riding on the shoulders of the present and future face of the NFL for the next 10 years.
Whether you think it’s too early for those discussions or not, there are people who have already thrown Mahomes in the GOAT conversation.
On the flip side, there are some who criticize Mahomes’ play in last year’s Super Bowl against the 49ers. Although he won Super Bowl MVP, Mahomes was mediocre by his standards for most that game. There is still some doubt if Mahomes can be dominant in the biggest game of the year like he does in almost every other game.
Some of those pundits you watch on TV have said things like “Mahomes is the greatest talent at the quarterback position” or “no one has played the position at a higher level than Mahomes has in his first three years starting.”
A Super Bowl 55 win, especially if he were to be named MVP, would further validate those types of comments.
Mahomes would have had a regular season MVP and two Super Bowl rings to go along with two Super Bowl MVPs.
Two Super Bowl MVPs would already surpass all-time great quarterbacks such as Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, John Elway, Ben Roethlisberger and Dan Marino.
At the age of 25, that would be an amazing and almost unreal accomplishment for someone so young to have that much success in the NFL.
It is scary for the rest of the league if Mahomes can pull this off on Sunday and win back-to-back Super Bowls — given the fact Mahomes can still get better.
Get your popcorn ready. Sunday will be a classic.
