I recently got Sirius satellite radio after years with XM radio.  They both have music, talk, and comedy, but Sirius has the NFL, while XM has baseball.  If you are a huge football fan, and I assume you are if you are on this website, you need to get Sirius just for this NFL station.  I won’t go into the details of why this is so great, you should find out for yourself.  The reason I bring it up is a discussion I listened to on this station.  This was about the best player in the NFL.  More specifically, if you had to start your own NFL team, not a fantasy team, but a real team, who would be the first player picked?  The usual suspects were brought up, Peyton Manning, Tomlinson, even Carson Palmer.  To me, this is a no brainer.  It has to be Tom Brady.  There should not even be anyone else in this discussion.  If you’ve read any of my past articles, you know that I am not a fan of New England, but I do admire this team.  Let me correct myself, not so much this team, but their quarterback.

A lot has been written about Brady since his ascension into elite status several years ago.  Here’s my take:  Back in 2001, when the Steelers were in the midst of a 13-3 season and were favorites for the Super Bowl, Brady was a first year starter and there was some controversy as to whether he should be put back on the bench when Bledsoe was healthy enough to start.  The smartest decision Belichick ever made was to leave Brady in there.  At the time, the Patriots were still regarded as a lark, having gone 5-11 the previous year.  The Patriots beat Oakland in the final game of the regular season to get the second seed in the AFC and home field advantage for their first playoff game which was to come against that same Oakland team.  I remember thinking at the time that this was a team I did not want the Steelers to play.  Oakland almost eliminated the Patriots in Foxboro and lost due to the tuck rule, but in that game, Brady showed why he will go down as the best NFL quarterback ever.  He drove his team into field goal range first to tie the game, and then to win it in overtime.  Vinatieri gets most of the credit for winning that game, but I believe the credit should go to Brady.  The next week in the AFC championship game, Pittsburgh was able to knock him out of the game with and ankle injury (this is the last time I can recall him ever losing time due to injury), but a special teams implosion by Pittsburgh, and 2 late interceptions by Kordell Stewart sent the Patriots to the Super Bowl.  The Patriots were heavy underdogs to St. Louis, but won again due to last second heroics by Brady driving the team into field goal range in the last minute.  You know the rest of the story, they barely missed the playoffs the next season, but then won the next two Super Bowls, both on late Brady drives.  I remember listening to ESPN radio early in the 2003 season.  The analysts were gushing about Tampa Bay possibly being the best team ever, and Peyton Manning was the best player in the NFL.  I wondered where was Brady in this discussion.  Already, I considered him the best player in the NFL.  He didn’t get the accolades back then because he was the first great “game managing” quarterback.  His stats were not flashy, but he did just enough to win every week.  Even as New England’s roster was gutted by free agency and injury, they just kept winning due to Brady’s poise and determination.  The reason he’s the one to start a team around is that it almost doesn’t matter who you put around him.  He genuinely makes everyone around him better.  Consider some of the offensive players that have left the Patriots since their run began and see how those players have done away from Brady.  Joe Andruzzi, Damien Woody, David Patton, David Givens all received big contracts with other teams because of their success in New England, but none of them are having near the success they had playing with Brady.   The jury is still out on Deion Branch.  Brady even makes the defense better.  He seems to be able to pick up 3^rd down conversions in his sleep ensuring long drives, so the defense is always well rested.  The defense can gamble more to make big plays with the knowledge that Brady will always keep them in the game.  He will put Belichick and probably several of his teammates into the Hall of Fame.

Brady is the clear cut choice as the first player you’d want, but who is next?  Most would take Peyton Manning.  He has the gaudiest stats, and destroys the weaker teams, but hardly ever comes through in the clutch.  He needs star players around him as evidenced by his poor showing in last year’s playoff loss to Pittsburgh where he put the blame on his offensive linemen.  He also benefits from great receivers.  Marvin Harrison was very good even before Manning came to the Colts and Reggie Wayne would be the top receiver on most teams.  A franchise QB is probably the most difficult piece to find for a championship team, just ask Brian Billick, so Manning has to be considered for the second spot, but there are several other quarterbacks I’d consider as well.

As a Steeler fan, I’ve watched Ben Roethlisberger ever since his first passes taking over for an injured Tommy Maddox in his second pro game.  They lost that one, but did not lose again his first season until New England blew them out in the AFC championship game.  He was absolutely brilliant in the playoffs last year before a dismal game, but win in the Super Bowl.  He has probably enjoyed more success early in his career than any quarterback, but he needs good players around him, and I can’t say that he makes the players around him better.  He may eventually reach that point, but he’s not there yet.  The other knock on Roethlisberger is his health.  Unlike Brady and Manning, he has missed time the past two seasons due to various health issues.  Even when he’s playing, there is always some issue, a thumb (twice), toes, elbow, ribs, 104 degree fever, etc.  Most Steelers fans can recite them by heart.  Of course there are the famous motorcycle and appendicitis incidents.  I get the sense that he spouts these off to have ready excuses in case he performs poorly, which he usually never does.  To his credit, when he does play poorly, he puts the blame squarely on his own shoulders, one reason his teammates view him as a leader.

The Steelers strongly considered taking Chad Pennington in the 2000 draft, but instead took Plaxico Burress.  Pennington went several picks later.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time.  I thought he was just another first round quarterback from an obscure MAC school whose success was due to the fact that he got to throw to Randy Moss.  These thoughts were solidified in the ensuing years as he sat on the bench behind Vinnie Testaverde, but when he finally got a chance to start, he shined.  I remember first taking note of Pennington when I saw his 77% completion percentage on Sportscenter.  He did this, week in and week out, and a very bad Jets team began to win.  He has been injury prone over the past few years.  I thought his career was over last year, but he is back this year and the Jets are winning again.

Donovan McNabb has been the nucleus of a good Philadelphia team for years, and he has done this for the most part without a star running back or receiver.  He puts up numbers almost as spectacular as Manning’s and wins big games more consistently, so I’m not sure why he’s not always included in discussions like this.  I think it’s probably because he plays in the weak NFC.

Carson Palmer looked great last year before his knee injury, but has been mostly inconsistent this year.   He’s got great receivers ( I like Houshmanzadeh better than Chad Johnson), an outstanding offensive line (he was sacked only 19 times last year) and a very good running back in Rudy Johnson.  I’d like to see him do it more consistently and win some big games before I’d consider him here.

This may sound crazy, but I’ll consider Bruce Gradkowski in this discussion.  Who?  This is the rookie QB from Toledo (another MAC school) who stepped in as a backup when Chris Simms was lost for the season.  Tampa Bay was 0-3 before he took the starting position.  In his first three starts, he almost beat New Orleans (losing only on a game ending punt return by Reggie bush), beat Cincinnati on a last minute touchdown pass, and beat Philadelphia.  He has the poise, competitiveness, and pocket presence of Brady without the history.  The Simms era in Tampa is over.

Though he had a career game last week against the Steelers, Michael Vick is far to inconsistent, but should be included in this discussion.  Always spectacular with this legs, his passing is spotty, and he usually is not a very clutch player (the Steeler game not withstanding).

The only non QB offensive player I’d consider is Ladainian Tomlinson.  There are other good running backs, but pure runners can usually be shut down.  Like Marshall Faulk, LT is dangerous both as a runner and a receiver.

It’s hard to consider defensive players here because offenses can usually just play away from them, but there are some who seem to be involved in every play like Troy Polamalu.  He is all over the field, hits hard, and is a sure tackler.  He is now developing much better “football sense”, so can anticipate the passes leading to more interceptions.  Ed Reed is usually regarded more highly, mostly based on his stellar season two years ago, but I’ll take Polamalu.

Brian Urlacher is another one of those players who seem to be in on every tackle.  Admittedly, the first time I really watched him was last year when the Steelers ran all over him and the Bears, so my opinion of him is not that good.

The most consistently destructive defensive lineman in the game is Richard Seymour.  Tommie Harris, Jammal Williams, and Julius Peppers seem to be the flavor of the day, but Seymour is consistently great.  He plays a hybrid position in Belichick’s defense. As both a tackle and an end, he can hold up against the run and pressure the quarterback.  Because he so often has to be double teamed, his fellow lineman is free to make more plays.

I think there is only one true shut down corner in the NFL today, and that is Champ Bailey.  He is almost guaranteed to render the opposition’s best receiver ineffective, and takes away half the field so his fellow defensive backs do not have to cover as much territory and his lineman get more “coverage sacks”.  He may be the only player that Tom Brady fears.