5-at-10: Happy birthday Tom Brady, Picking the GOAT, Braves > Dodgers, Rushmore of best late draft picks ever


              FILE - In this May 1, 2017, file photo, Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady attend an event at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. An exclusive club in the tony town where Brady and Bundchen live has finally admitted the celebrity couple. Brady and Bundchen own a multimillion-dollar mansion next door. But their application languished for two years while other members debated whether they might be a little too high-profile for the privacy-minded club founded in 1882 on Chestnut Hill.
(Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - In this May 1, 2017, file photo, Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady attend an event at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. An exclusive club in the tony town where Brady and Bundchen live has finally admitted the celebrity couple. Brady and Bundchen own a multimillion-dollar mansion next door. But their application languished for two years while other members debated whether they might be a little too high-profile for the privacy-minded club founded in 1882 on Chestnut Hill. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

Happy birthday, TB12

Tom Brady is 40 today.

Yes, 4-0.

There will be some give and take when it comes to numbers this fall. If we asked who you got, Patriots or the field? We'd lean Patriots. Too many solids and too many improvements in the offseason. But, if the Patriots win it again, Brady would be the only 40-year-old starting QB to win the Super Bowl.

That's a pretty tough historical hurdle to climb.

Of the many questions we have about this day in regard to the player most consider to be GOAT at the most important position in sports (more on this in a moment), here's a large one:
What do you get someone like Tom Brady for a birthday present?

Dude is married to a Brazilian super model who makes $40 million a year. He lives in a palace, and has all the nicest things. Heck, with his strike diet and eating regime, you can't even get him one of those stylish Cookie Cakes with a funny message on it. (Tight end Rob Gronkowski had a pretty good suggestion - touchdowns; The Patriots organization got the GOAT two baby goats. Seriously.)

The questions about Brady and the stories - hey, the fact that he was a sixth-round pick is the NFL version of "Hey, did you know that Josh Dobbs in an aerospace engineer major?" - are all too familiar about a world-famous star that we know very little about, all things considered in this day and age.

He's 40 today, and he has authored a resume that's second-to-none, but for a lot of folks, the Patriots shady past and his role in DeflateGate will forever be right there as fact 1B to his record number of Super Bowl wins as a quarterback as the appositive phrase of his career.

photo FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2017 file photo, Tiger Woods reacts on hole 10th during the 1st round of the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Woods has checked out of the clinic where he went to get help dealing with pain medications, saying he will "continue to tackle this going forward." The treatment follows the golfer's arrest on a DUI charge after he was found asleep at the wheel in Jupiter, Fla., around 2 a.m. on May 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

If not Tom, then whom?

There are a few arguments and topics that are forever what we like to call the sports radio summer topic all-stars.

Tiger Woods, done or not, is there. Fixing baseball is there. Pete Rose - Hall of Fame or no? - is there. (Side note: Did you guys see the story that Rose admitted to having relations with a teenager in the 1970s - when he was in his 30s allegedly - and news comes out now that the girl was 14 or 15. He says he thought she was 16, but man, what scumbag. The Phillies cancelled next weekend's celebration in which Rose was voted into the Wall of Fame by Phillies fans.)

Anyhoo, GOAT conversation also always has a place in the slower summer months. Greatest coach. Greatest pitcher. Behind MJ, greatest hoops player.

For the most part, we've been able to avoid that this summer around these parts and around Press Row. (That's in large part to the big brains of our listeners and the great list of guests we've been fortunate to get this summer. Side note, II: If you miss any or all of the show and wonder who we might have had join us, check out espnchattanooga.com to hear them again.) We think the biggest disconnect in terms of GOAT talk is the measurement angle. Whatever is most important to you shapes your version of the GOAT. Is it stats? Is it accomplishments, be them team or individual? Is it passing the eye test?

All of those can be the biggest factors to someone, and we get that. We have covered some of this before. But it also occurred to us that if you believe one way in one sport, do you also believe that way in the other.

Case in point: If you believe MJ to be the best basketball player ever, shouldn't you be inclined to think Brady is the GOAT? Neither leads in major statistical categories. Each played for a coach viewed as one of the all-time greats. Each became the famous of championship mettle in the modern era?

Brady's numbers are great, and if he plays three more years, he likely will have every major record in the book. (He's said he wants to play until he's 45, but we're not sure that's possible.) Brady is fourth in passing yards (61,582; Peyton Manning's 71,940 is first); Brady is fourth in TD passes (456; Manning's 539 is first).

Brady already holds almost every postseason record in terms of winning and passing. (His 9,094 passing yards in the playoffs are far and away the most; the next active player is Ben Roethlisberger at 4,787).

If individual stats are your thing, we get it. And maybe you go with Manning in that case. He did win two titles. But are you then saying Kareem is the best NBA player ever? If the eye test is your thing - and that one seems to be the biggest single stretch, considering Jeff George and Dan Marino arguably had the best collection of physical skills a quarterback would ever need - then OK.

So, who you got? GOAT, and why?

photo Atlanta Braves' Danny Santana hits a two run home run over the right center field wall against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the second inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017, in Atlanta. Nick Markakis scored on the play. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Best around, unless they play Atlanta

The Atlanta Braves ended some MLB history Wednesday night.

The Braves toppled the Dodgers 5-3 in a game in which the Dodgers had a 1-0 and a 3-2 lead. Prior to last night, the Dodgers were a mind-blowing an record-setting 53-0 in games in which they had the lead at any point.

That's nuts. And now it's over.

It also is fair to believe that the Dodgers - who are 75-32 now - will do whatever they can to stop the Braves from making the playoffs.

Why, you may ask, does a team that is on a record pace care if a 49-57 Braves team is around come October? After all, the Dodgers could have five of the top nine vote-getters in the NL MVP race. (We think Justin Turner, Cory Seager, Cody Bellinger, Clayton Kershaw and closer Kelsey Jansen all have legitimate cases for MVP consideration). Plus, the Dodgers likely have four starting pitchers better than anyone the Braves could trot out.

So why in the name Vin Scully would the Dodgers care about seeing these Braves.

Well, did you know that the Dodgers are 20-3 in their last 23 games? Did you know all three of those losses came to these Braves?

"I didn't realize that. That's unfortunate," Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager said of the losses to Atlanta, according to the Orange County Register. "We need to stop playing them."

This and that

- Hey, Turner Field is becoming the home of the Georgia State football Panthers. And yes, we're betting there will be plenty of good seats available.

- Speaking of football stadiums, among the five ways the football powers that be are trying to use technology to improve America's favorite game include something called Augmented Reality, in which AR glasses are offered to fans in the stadium and try to improve the in-game viewing as much as the TV experience has improved over recent years. Among the features on some of the AR glasses are the ability to get live stats and graphics, keep up with your fantasy team during a busy Sunday, order food directly from your seat and change view angle to other seats in the stadium also using AR technology.

- Here's some more on the intriguing storyline of Stephan Jaeger playing golf with Steph Curry today from TFP all-around ace David Paschall. Good times.

- Mike Fisher, the Predators captain, is retiring at 37. Dude also is Mr. Carrie Underwood, so that's pretty sweet, too.

- Of all the meaningless action in tonight's Cardinals-Cowboys NFL preseason opener, there will be an intriguing debut tonight. One Tony Romo will be in the booth tonight. Good luck.

Today's question

Have you offered a mailbag question? If not why not?

Let's do some True or False on a Thursday.

True or false, you'd take the Patriots over the field. True or false, Tom Brady plays at least three more seasons (including this one). True or false, Brady deserves more credit for the Patriots' dynasty than Bill Belichick.

Man, Aug. 3 is a a pretty crazy day.

Did you know Columbus set sail across the ocean blue on this day in 1492? He was headed to the "Indies" and we're pretty sure his ships were the Pinto (which is how we got Pinto beans), the Nino (which is how Nino Brown from New Jack City got his name) and the Santa Claus, which is clear what that became. (Oh, wait. Shakeem, power voice and web guru is telling us it was the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Well, that's not as much fun.)

Did you know that on this day in 1596, David Fabricius discovered the first variable star after confirming light variations on Mira?

On this day in 1914, Germany invaded Belgium and declared war on France, jumpstarting World War I. Twenty years later, some dude named Adolf Hitler on this day declared himself Fuhrer after merging the offices of chancellor and president. And we all know how that turned out.

Some cool birthdays too. Marty Sheen is 77. Martha Stewart is 76. As we mentioned above, TB12 is 40.

In honor of Brady, what four athletes across all sports are the most overachieving draft picks of all-time?

Go, and remember the mailbag.

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