Mark Bradley

By azcat225

February 12, 2009 8:27 AM | Link to this

I would not say Favre is THE most overrated athlete of our time but I would certainly put him in the top 20 or thereabouts.

By Mark Bradley

February 12, 2009 8:33 AM | Link to this

As we know, I’m given to hyperbole.

By DougnSC

February 12, 2009 8:42 AM | Link to this

You are not alone Mark. To hear his name mentioned in the discussion of the greatest quarterbacks in history makes me laugh. Easily the most overrated athlete in the last 20 years.

By Supes

February 12, 2009 8:47 AM | Link to this

Easily a top 10 QB of all time. How is that over rated? Only you Mark Bradley (the AJC drama starter) would blog about that.

By Brian22

February 12, 2009 8:47 AM | Link to this

Nope, that would be KNOW-SHOW MORENO.

By Moneyroe

February 12, 2009 8:48 AM | Link to this

I do not think you can even say that he is the most overrated quarterback of his generation. That honor would have to go to Donovan McNabb. But I do agree that he is greatly over-inflated.

By mark acres

February 12, 2009 8:51 AM | Link to this

Of the uber-elite athletes, he’s no question at the top of the most overrated. His #’s & his Super Bowl ring still make him a fringe top 10 or so all time QB though. The boneheads @ ESPN, Fox, etc that say he’s top 3 or 5 are out of their mind. Favre’s not: Montana Bradshaw Elway Brady

Of recent times, I’d put him more w/ the likes of Young, P Manning, Aikman & Marino. I’m too young to know how he truly compares to Starr, Graham, Baugh, Staubach & Unitas.

By Mark Bradley

February 12, 2009 9:00 AM | Link to this

I’d put Peyton Manning and Dan Marino way ahead of Favre. But that’s just me.

By Mart

February 12, 2009 9:00 AM | Link to this

He’s definitely overrated, and probably way overrated. But perhaps not THE most overrated, because there seem to be a lot of folks —like me— who think he just plain isn’t very good and hasn’t been for about a decade.

Without giving it too much thought I’d say the most overrated athlete of recent times is probably a golfer, maybe Michelson or Els.

By Jamaal

February 12, 2009 9:08 AM | Link to this

Overrated.

310 picks? If you play that many consecutive games, then you should have the most yards ever. What has he done lately? Not make it to the playoffs…

By thomas trippe

February 12, 2009 9:08 AM | Link to this

Brett Favre has too many NFL passing records to be called “overrated”. Perhaps Mr. Brandley is the real “overrated” one who should retire.

By mark acres

February 12, 2009 9:21 AM | Link to this

When all’s said & done, Peyton likely will end up ahead of Favre, assuming he doesn’t crash & burn on the back side of his career. I can’t definitively put Marino ahead of Favre (or vice versa) simply b/c he never won a ring. Their #’s are similar & neither ever had an excellent crew around them offensively.

By doc

February 12, 2009 9:28 AM | Link to this

mark, he may be over rated but i wish he had been over rated by playing with the falcons instead of the packers. if he had stayed here your job would have been ten times better and perhaps you would have been singing a different tune. the guy was a stud, played every game with passion and enthusiasm. yes the diva dying part of his opera got to be over done like the james brown routine where they try to put the cape over him and he throws it off to come back for one more verse. it was to stimulate the fans and he did just that. the fans of green bay are still crying because he made them relative as he would have the falcons. maybe we could have kept deion as well if he had been here, who knows?

you would have died for his copy rather than die with the likes of petrino, et al. keep it in perspective mark. for the record i wasnt a fan of his and think maybe fran tarkington was the most over rated, if you want to ask me though.

By Mark Bradley

February 12, 2009 9:41 AM | Link to this

I might well have viewed Favre differently if I’d had to watch him every Sunday. I might have come to appreciate him a lot more. Or I might I have gotten frustrated by the INTs a heck of a lot sooner.

But your point is well taken, Doc.

By MrHughes

February 12, 2009 9:47 AM | Link to this

I agree completely. Brett Favre is over rated and selfish. He has been for years. Brett was selfish when he was a Falcon, spending his time in Buckhead drinking at the bar all night, arguing with coaches, and coming to practices hungover. Brett was selfish in Green Bay, unwilling to tutor Aaron Rogers and help him learn the quarterback position because “it’s not my responsability”, chugging bottles of pain killers, and choosing to retire because the Packers didn’t beg him back hard enough. Brett was selfish in New York because he couldn’t be bothered to speak to his teammates, go out to diner with them, continued to play eve though he was physically unable, change in the lockeroom, bailed on his coach, and allowed a franchise to give up a pretty good player for one more year of glory. Brett Favre is over rated, has thrown more interceptions than just about anybody, and reads a defense about as well as a one month old reads a milk carton. He made the same dumb throws last year that he’s always made. Brett likes to sling it. That makes him a thrower rather than a passer. The leads in TD’s, completions, and yards because he leads in attempts. That’s what happens when you play that long. The “best QB of our time” led a good team to a 1-4 record down the stretch that caused them to not make the playoffs after pretty much being in the driver’s seat in the AFC East and threw 3 interceptions in his final game.

“If somebody is not playing well, they need to come out of the game…You’re jeopardizing the whole team because you’re having a bad day. To me, that’s not fair to everybody else. You’re not the only one on the team.”

Over rated completely fits Brett Favre.

p.s. McNabb is the best quarterback to ever put on an Eagles jersey. Who’s the other option, Ron Jaworski? I wouldn’t even know who he was if it wasn’t for him acting like a fool on ESPN.

By Golden Dawg 84

February 12, 2009 9:47 AM | Link to this

Not sure if he’s been wildly overrated his entire career but his time was up long ago. I was glad to hear the Jets players critical of him finally speak out against the legend.

I’m glad to see him go if for no other reason than because his presence as an elite QB mocked the Falcons. How many starting QBs have the Falcons had since 91. When Vick’s Falcons beat Green Bay in the playoffs, I thought that finally, we could turn the page on that trade. Of course we all know what happened to that one – 2008- MV in Leavenworth and Favre still making Madden hyperventilate. Finally it’s over!

The Falcons didn’t make a bad move getting rid of Favre based on the information at the time (even Favre admits he was a drunken a* his rookie year). In typical Falcon fashion though, even a defensible move like the Favre trade will haunt them in retrospect as one of the worst moves in sports history.

I remember seeing him for the first time when So Miss scared the bejesus out of us dawg fans back in ‘90. I believe they went on to beat Bama and Auburn both that year. The great Curley Hallman was their coach and based on Favre’s heroics, wound up as the head coach at LSU.

By uga_b

February 12, 2009 9:49 AM | Link to this

What’s funny is that if he was a baseball player, he would hit 30-40 homeruns with 150 strikeouts and never get on base consistently. While me may have a mid-tier on base percentage his stats would be skewed since he would always get on in bunches in some games and never see first base in others. People would call him a solid power hitter, but not elite.

In football, the big play overrides his negative plays. Brett’s a gunslinger; other players just make a mistake (see Delhomme). He holds records due to his longevity, but they are both bad and good records. His biggest asset was playing everyday, which was amazing but doesn’t make you great.

By Bach

February 12, 2009 10:10 AM | Link to this

Overrated?

What about Michael Vick?

By Bo

February 12, 2009 10:21 AM | Link to this

Mark:

I agree that he is the most overrated athlete of our time. For every great throw/touchdown in his career, you can find at least one boneheaded pick that even the most average quarterback wouldn’t make.

I enjoy your blogs, keep up the good work.

By Mark Bradley

February 12, 2009 10:23 AM | Link to this

Thanks, Bo. I’ll look for you on the new blog.

By Bo

February 12, 2009 10:24 AM | Link to this

Mark:

I agree that he is the most overrated athlete of our time. For every great throw/touchdown in his career, you can find at least one boneheaded pick that even the most average quarterback wouldn’t make.

I enjoy your blogs, keep up the good work.

By doc

February 12, 2009 10:33 AM | Link to this

i wasnt embellishing his career mark only placing a perspective that went beyond his int’s and EGO; gosh he was a diva. wasnt that a product of the media as well? a double edged sword.

yes, sane people would have tired of the act as well as the int’s but that is not what sells papers, advertising or anything else. he is a product of our time as much as anything. he did win one and by many’s measure that is what it is all about. it may be the only thing as the criteria of success in our espn laden culture. how many arguments ride on just that? the take on peyton before he got the ring? he couldnt win the big one. the list is long for our win at all and any cost, mark. sport is the emblem for the times.

btw, you a fran tarkington fan? underrated or overrated?

By Mark Bradley

February 12, 2009 11:05 AM | Link to this

I would say Tarkenton gets rated about where he should be — not the greatest ever, but one of the top 10.

The top 10, in no particular order: Montana, Brady, P. Manning, Elway, Marino, Unitas, Starr, Baugh, Tarkenton, Warner.

By 82DAWG

February 12, 2009 11:09 AM | Link to this

Before you hang that moniker on him take a moment to look at what he did. Before he and Reggie White arrived in Green Bay the Packers were among the biggest jokes in the NFL. No one outside of Wisconsin thought of them as anything more than the doormat of the league. They hadn’t won anything since some guy named Lombardi coached Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, etc. What did the Favre led Packers then accomplish? - NFC Central Champions: 1995, 1996, 1997 - NFC North Champions: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 - NFC Champions: 1996, 1997 - Super Bowl Champions: 1996

These are team stats, which I think are the most important in measuring a QB. But, having asked, let me name a few personal accomplishments: - 10 times Pro Bowl selection (1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008) - 3 times AP NFL MVP (1995–1997) - NFL Career record holder - Wins (169), Completions (5,682), Attempts (9,209), Yards (64,707) and Touchdowns (463).

How you can say he is overrated is not only obscene, it is completely mind-boggling.

By Bill in VA

February 12, 2009 11:37 AM | Link to this

By Bach, I agree completely, 10:10am, Vick is the MOST overrated, but Favre tarnished his own record over the past year.

By craig miller

February 12, 2009 11:43 AM | Link to this

The fact that he never got injured ever, while an amazing accomplishment in itself, has inflated a lot of his stats.

Ask yourselves this…if you had one game to win, would you want Favre ahead of Montana, Elway, Marino, Aikman, Young, P. Manning, Brady? I say no way.

Sure Favre’s up there with some of the best, but he’s definitely not in the top 3, so yes, he’s overrated.

Of course, maybe we’re all just bitter because the Falcons traded him.

By craig miller

February 12, 2009 11:43 AM | Link to this

The fact that he never got injured ever, while an amazing accomplishment in itself, has inflated a lot of his stats.

Ask yourselves this…if you had one game to win, would you want Favre ahead of Montana, Elway, Marino, Aikman, Young, P. Manning, Brady? I say no way.

Sure Favre’s up there with some of the best, but he’s definitely not in the top 3, so yes, he’s overrated.

Of course, maybe we’re all just bitter because the Falcons traded him.

By craig miller

February 12, 2009 11:44 AM | Link to this

The fact that he never got injured ever, while an amazing accomplishment in itself, has inflated a lot of his stats.

Ask yourselves this…if you had one game to win, would you want Favre ahead of Montana, Elway, Marino, Aikman, Young, P. Manning, Brady? I say no way.

Sure Favre’s up there with some of the best, but he’s definitely not in the top 3, so yes, he’s overrated.

Of course, maybe we’re all just bitter because the Falcons traded him.

By Dawg88

February 12, 2009 11:47 AM | Link to this

Ignore this blog.

Its ridiculous to suggest he is overrated. Its sportswriters who are overrated with overinflated egos.

By Reno 911

February 12, 2009 11:49 AM | Link to this

This just in: Brett Favre has announced by text message that he will enter the Hall of Fame as an Atlanta Falcon. The Lulu’s Bait Shack Hall of Fame.

By Reno 911

February 12, 2009 12:27 PM | Link to this

Was Favre a great QB? yes. Is he among the top 3 to EVER play the game, as ESPN’s John Clayton suggested yesterday? No. If I needed to win a huge game, I can think of five or six QB’s from the last 20 years I’d rather have than Favre: Montana, Elway, Brady, Steve Young, maybe even Peyton Manning. The problem with this whole “overrated or not” controversy is that we have to look at who is doing the alleged “overrating”. It’s people like John Clayton (who looks like Beeker, from the Muppet Show, only with less hair…check it out and tell me I’m wrong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQj2NP25TIo&feature=PlayList&p=E96071DFDF0D929F&playnext=1&index=9). The problem is that a lot of reporters like Clayton are reporters only because it was a natural follow-on to having grown up as “jock-sniffers”. Jock sniffers are the guys who love sports, but couldn’t play them (a lot of us fall into that category, myself included), but the difference with the jock sniffers is that they worship athletes and, as a result of that hero-worship and envy, crave their acceptance and validation. You can imagine Clayton as a 16 year old, knowing the stats of his own high school’s football team better than the players did, hanging around the locker room collecting dirty towels, hoping like hell that someone would acknowledge his existence, nod in his direction, even know his name. And that’s what Favre does. He’s the stud high school quarterback who’s nice to the towel boys. Only all the towel boys have grown up, and get to wear suits and stand in front of cameras and write the “first draft of history”, as some journalists like to say. Favre calls them regularly, spends time with them, looks them in the eye, sends them endless streams of text messages, letting each and every one of them know in his own way how much he likes them, respects them, likes them. He’s their friend. It’s the jock-sniffing grown-up towel boy’s dream come true. So let’s recognize the “controversy” for what it really is: infatuation. Is Favre, really, among the top 3 quarterbacks of all time? Nope. Is he a great football player? At 270+ consecutive starts in the most contact of contact sports, you’d better believe it. Is he one of the top 3 most savvy athletes when it comes to media relations? Yep.

(But seriously, check out Beaker from the Muppets and tell me I’m wrong.)

By scottd

February 12, 2009 12:53 PM | Link to this

Mark - You basically made your whole article useless by saying that you did not see Favre play that much on a regular basis. I am a die hard/life long Packer fan. It is safe to say that I have seen almost every game Brett Favre has played. The only way to truly appreciate someone like him is to watch him every week. No player has ever brought the energy, talent, and passion to every game they played like Brett did. Whether he playing the worthless Lions or the Dallas Cowboys, Brett brought everything he had every week and performed.

The one stat no one has mentioned yet is that Favre had one losing season in 17 years. Combine that with the records, MVP’s and SuperBowls and you have probably the best resume of any QB in history.

Two other quick points: 1) In his prime, Favre’s combination of arm strength, mobility, improvisational skills, toughness and accuaracy are unmatched by anyone with the exception of Elway. If you watched him play every week, he was truly an exceptional talent. His numbers were great but his play making ability was outstanding and amazing.

2)Instead of throwing around his 310 Int’s like it is the reason he is not in the top 3, check his TD/INT ratio before you open your mouth. It is on par with the Elways and Mannings of the world and better then Aikmans. Do your quick math before you make another stupid comment!

By Freeman

February 12, 2009 1:16 PM | Link to this

Bach,

Vick is the most UNDERrated QB of all time.

By Reno 911

February 12, 2009 1:21 PM | Link to this

What about Gilbert Renfroe?

By kappellmeister

February 12, 2009 1:26 PM | Link to this

MARK,

I do not agree, but not for the normal QB reasons. I disagree because the man played how many years without missing a start? Where he seemed to lack in innate ability, he more than made up for in leadership (ok - until the last couple of years, anyway …)

Freeman - are you freaking serious? Go back to your Apple Jacks.

By Mark Bradley

February 12, 2009 1:29 PM | Link to this

Gilbert Renfroe. I haven’t heard that name since … oh, August of 1990.

By Otto

February 12, 2009 1:34 PM | Link to this

Vick is by far the most overrated. Never could win the big game at VT or in Atlanta. It was always about him.

By MrHughes

February 12, 2009 2:26 PM | Link to this

Whoever compared John Clayton to Beeker from the Muppets is hilarious.

Favre is completely over rated and a drug addict. That’s why he was able to start all those games. Also, the Packers didn’t turn the corner until Reggie White came to Green Bay. He was the final piece of the puzzle. The addition of him is what made that team and their defense great. Look no further than the last Superbowl. Defense is what wins championships. That, and a QB that doesn’t throw interceptions like you get points for them.

I’d rather have Elway, Cunningham, Bob Greise, Montana, Brady, Marino, Young, P Manning, Bradshaw, Unitas, Tarkenton, Namath, McNair, Fouts, Moon, or even Phil Simms over Favre.

Personally, I think Aikman was over rated too. Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Alvin Harper, Daryl Jonhston, and a fantastic defense added a lot to his legacy.

As for Vick… he has won and played well in big games and on bad teams… The Pittsburg game at the Georgia Dome Tying that same Pittsburg team at Heinz 4th and 10 versus Carolina with no time left… The run in OT versus Minnesota that is imortalized in the Hall of Fame with a pair of shoes.

Above all, handing the Green Bay Packers their first playoff loss ever at Lambeau Field in the snow when NO One outside of Atlanta throught they had a shot.

By The Grinch

February 12, 2009 2:43 PM | Link to this

Agreed, Mark. His arm strength, consecutive starts streak, competitive fire and raw stats put him in the category of great QB’s. But top 5? No freakin’ way. I have him in the 10-12 range. Factor in his high school girl emotional level and neediness and it drops him way further. I hope he’s not around the media in a few years when he goes through menopause; I don’t wish to see it.

By Reno 911

February 12, 2009 3:21 PM | Link to this

Mark- You haven’t heard Gilbert’s name since 1990? You must have not been listening to the two or three sports call-in shows on the radio that were on during the early 90’s, because there was a small but dedicated group of local fans who would call up and voice their support of Gilbert Renfroe (even after he had been released) as the savior of the Falcon’s franchise. I assume their belief was based on his throwing four TD passes in the second half of a mid-summer 1990 preseason scrimmage game (that, if I recall was played in South Carolina somewhere?). But, alas, they said, he never got a shot. And even two or three years after his release, there were people calling up bemoaning the loss of “Gilbit Remfro” and the dream that could have been. All the Vick-related wailing and gnashing of teeth reminds me, in some way, of long lost Gilbert Renfroe, and his legion of die-hards. Except “the man” didn’t have to send Renfroe to prison to “keep him down.”

By Butters

February 12, 2009 3:29 PM | Link to this

Oh hamburgers!

By Cartman

February 12, 2009 3:31 PM | Link to this

Weak!

By Jeff

February 14, 2009 2:29 AM | Link to this

A men brother. Amen!

By Mr. Overated

February 14, 2009 1:01 PM | Link to this

That would have to to be without a bout, RB Reggie Bush for the Saints. He is way overated.