Sorry for the thread hijack, please feel free to split my comments into another thread if you feel it necessary.
I have more respect for players like Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Warren Moon, Kurt Warner, Matt Cassel etc. than players like Randy Moss, Vince Wilfork, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino etc. Guys that had to fight just to get a shot to be on the field.
I understand where you are coming from, but I think it's a bit misguided as well especially when comparing Brady to Marino. Marino wasn't handed the Miami Dolphins QB job either, he earned it with his play, just like Brady. The only difference between Marino and Tom Brady is that Tom didn't get a chance to showcase his talents in college like Marino did and was therefore drafted in the 5th round. Here's a quick history lesson on Dan Marino.
Marino had success at QB at every level of Football until his senior season at Pitt where he struggled. He was drafted late in the first round because of that poor showing. When he was drafted, Miami was coming off a superbowl visit. David Woodley was a young QB with a lot of mobility and was backed up by veteran Don Strock. Marino was not expected to crack the starting lineup in his first year as it was assumed that his poor senior season in college indicated that he'd need time to adjust to the NFL. Shula frowned upon putting rookie players on the field and doubly so when it came to the QB position, however once Marino got to Miami, he immediately noticed the difference between Marino and Woodley. Just watching the 2 throw the football around it was obvious that he had skills that Woodley did not possess, but still he decided Marino needed more time on the bench before he would be ready to play. After 3 games of watching Woodley and the offense struggle however he decided to put Marino in late in a game against Oakland. Marino rallied the team to 2 late TD's and posted a 117.3 QB rating. Shula went back to Woodley however to start the next 2 games where Woodley continued to struggle, so Shula gave Marino another chance in a game against New Orleans where Woodley was 4 of 12 for 34 yards and a pick and 7.6 QB rating. Marino went 12 of 22 for 150 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT in relief and Shula decided to give Marino his first start in the next game. Woodley never again played for Miami.
So no one knew that Marino would become a superstar either. He certainly had shown enough in college to think he might be decent in the pro's, but he was the 6th QB taken in the draft in '83 which just happened to have a lot of 1st round talent at QB that year so a lot of teams passed over him too. Not as many as passed over Brady, but he still had a bit of a chip on his shoulder too when he came to Miami. He was not handed the job, he straight up outplayed the starter and made the most of his chances when he was given the chance to play. I completely understand your position on Tom Brady, it's only natural that you would put him on a pedestal, but I think you need to cut Marino a little slack. You've made several remarks about Marino in the past that I've shown to be less than factual. I don't expect you to think as much of Marino as I do for example, but I think you should show a little more respect to him especially given the circumstances that you're posting on a Dolphins website, who happen to be division rivals with your Patriots. I wouldn't dream of going on a Patriots website and slighting Tom Brady, I think it's a bit underhanded for you to do it here.
That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
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