There haven’t been a lot of lists for elite athletes where Tom Brady has missed out on the number 1 ranking but ESPN’s latest proves that it’s all a rollercoaster with the fair share of ups and downs. After devoting exactly half of his life to becoming the best quarterback in the world, Brady couldn’t have predicted this day when his legacy was overshadowed by other American athletes.

Tom Brady, the former QB for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will go down in history as the most successful football player. With 7 Super Bowl rings to his name, he outranks every other player in the NFL without any competition nearing him. He spent 23 years in the sport predominantly with the New England Patriots. Under Bill Belichick, Brady’s talents are one of the major reasons why the New England Patriots are one of two teams to have 6 Super Bowl Trophies, standing head-to-head with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yet, ESPN’s list of the “Top 100 athletes since 2000” is a harsh reality check for Brady, one of the most hardworking players of all time.

Tom Brady and his disappointing ranking on the ESPN list

The GOAT of the NFL seems to be lagging far behind other sporting greats in the recently released list by ESPN. They published the “Top 100 athletes since 2000 list” and the 7-time Super Bowl-winning QB was not in the top 3 as names like Lionel Messi, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams overtook his grand legacy.

The tweet saw the names of 20 athletes and while Brady did manage to beat out some of the best athletes in the world like Cristiano Ronaldo and Usain Bolt; it is unsure whether the Patriots’ legend will be too happy with these rankings. People worldwide often consider Brady to be one of the faces of the NFL, and this list just slightly undermines his efforts. Additionally, it is more than obvious that Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, and Lionel Messi are miles ahead of Brady’s accolades but an argument can be made that the Patriots’ QB should rank higher than LeBron James, which is exactly what Chris Broussard had to say.

Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard weighs in on LeBron v/s Tom Brady

If we were to do a surface-level comparison, the Lakers’ legend, James only has 4 NBA championships as compared to Brady’s mighty lucky number 7 in terms of Super Bowl rings. But the argument is way deeper than that. Some would say that Basketball is more of an individual sport rather than the NFL, where the QB’s success relies heavily on a good receiver or a strong O-line. Yet, Brousard had a clear preference between the two GOATs as the debate continued to divide fans.

In one of the episodes on the “First Things First” show, Broussard and Nick Wright engaged in a debate about the better player between the NBA champion and the NFL GOAT. While Wright chose James as the clear winner, Broussard said, “I think that’s inarguable. You could argue that LeBron was the better individual player, but just dominance of their sport, Brady owned the NFL. In records individually, he will retire with more than LeBron and more significant records than him. And winning, he’s won more Super Bowls than any franchise. LeBron has lost more [in the Finals] than he’s won.” What’s also interesting to note is that James is still an active player while Brady retired in 2023. There are many more arguments to the debate but everyone has different opinions on it all. What do you think? Is it Brady or LeBron who stands taller than the other?