Tom Brady’s former backup draws similarities between legendary QB and Patrick Mahomes - “They are maniacal perfectionists”
Tom Brady is considered by almost everyone around the NFL to be the greatest quarterback to ever step on a football field. Now that he officially announced his retirement during the 2023 NFL offseason, many would agree that Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league right now.
Blaine Gabbert is one of the many to share the widely accepted opinion about the two legendary quarterbacks. He's also one of the few to have first-hand experience playing with both of them.
He's been lucky enough to serve as each of their backups during his career, previously with Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and currently with Mahomes on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here's what Gabbert had to say about Brady and Mahomes during a recent interview at the Chiefs' offseason workouts:
“They are maniacal perfectionists, and I mean that in the most endearing way possible. They are the two best, in my opinion, to ever play the game. To see the similarities and how they operate, meeting rooms, practice field.
"Now, they are completely different players as we all know, but the way they approach the game on and off the football field is the exact same way and you can see why both have had sustained success, early on, and throughout their careers.”
Blaine Gabbert gave each of them extremely high praise, which should come as no surprise. Patrick Mahomes is off to one of the best starts to a career by any quarterback in NFL history. The same can be said for Tom Brady when he similarly got off to a hot start more than two decades ago.
Comparing Patrick Mahomes' first five seasons as a starter to Tom Brady's
Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes each spent their rookie seasons as a backup before taking over as a starter in year two. Both of them found a ton of immediate success in the early stages of their careers.
In Brady's first five seasons as a starter, he won three Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, while Mahomes won two rings with the Kansas City Chiefs.
During their first five years as starters, Brady and Mahomes were each named the Super Bowl MVP twice. Mahomes was also named the NFL MVP twice during that time, while Brady first won the award in his seventh season as a starter. While Mahomes still has a long way to go, his trajectory is currently similar to Brady's.