“Tom Brady beat him two times in the playoffs.” That’s how Rob Gronkowski put an end to the entire Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes debate. The Chiefs going to the Super Bowl for the third straight year has worked great in favor of Patrick Mahomes. Despite having stats that do not scream ‘elite’, Mahomes, this season, is slowly being elevated to the same company as Tom Brady. Now, most of you would say that the Chiefs QB stands nowhere near the Pats legend, who has seven Super Bowl wins to his name. Well, Brady’s buddy Rob Gronkowski would second that with you.

If you’re a Gronk fan, go catch the Jimmy Fallon Show’s Wednesday night episode. And watch your favorite TV host have a candid chat with the former Pats tight end. Fallon tossed some hot NFL questions at Gronk. And one of them is trending big time right now: Can you put Patrick Mahomes in the same GOAT company as Tom Brady? And Rob’s straight-up stating facts. The 35-year-old admitted that the Chiefs QB is indeed the “greatest player currently,” but he’s not yet in the same company as Brady. “In order to get into the, you know, the GOAT talk as the greatest of all time. I’m gonna be a little biased. Because I played with Tom Brady. And I think he’s the greatest player of all time, and he’s proven that he is the greatest player of all time.”

No sugarcoating there. It is what it is. Patrick might be on the verge of securing a three-peat, but the hard truth for his fans is that he never stood up against Tom Brady. If you disagree, you might want to revisit Super Bowl LV. Brady-led Bucs beat KC 31-9. Mahomes struggled against the legendary QB, failing to find the end zone even once. That was Tom’s seventh and final Super Bowl win as he hung up his cleats in 2023. 

“And in order for Patrick Mahomes to enter that era. I mean, first off, he’s gotta win this Super Bowl coming up and get the three-peat…is he better than Tom Brady? Tom Brady beat him two times in the playoffs. And is undefeated versus him,” added Rob. That was Gronk’s take. But there’s another one of Brady’s former teammates who chimed in on the matter. So, what’s he got to say?

Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes: Through the Lens of Julian Edelman

After Rob Gronkowski, in comes Julian Edelman. Wow, this is getting interesting. This whole debate is pure entertainment while we wait for the Super Bowl. Julian has an interesting take on the whole thing. Edelman, who played 12 seasons as a WR for the Pats, thinks the Chiefs QB is getting closer to Brady. And no, don’t go looking for him on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon – though it would’ve been great if the two former teammates had appeared together.

Sharing his take on Tom Curran’s Patriots Talk podcast, Julian said, “I mean, if he goes out and three-peats… This is the salary cap era, it’s tough to win consistently in this league. That’s something that no one’s ever done. So it’s going to get closer.”

But that’s not all – the 38-year-old weighed in on how Brady has faced a lot more challenges than the Chiefs QB. “I think that the difference is, that Tom had three different Hall of Fame careers and was able to perform at such a high level through so many different forms of adversity, whether it was someone murdering someone or some of the ‘gates’ that we went through, a suspension, it didn’t matter. He was able to perform at the highest level no matter what.” 

Brady’s success wasn’t just limited to the Pats and Bill Belichick. The star QB grabbed a Lombardi Trophy with the Bucs in his second-to-last year in the league. Whether Patrick could find that kind of success with another team is up for debate. The Chiefs aren’t winning solely because of Mahomes. It’s because every player on their roster is doing their part. And Andy Reid knows exactly how to bring out the best in every guy on that team.