We started 2020 with Lamar Jackson as MVP. Patrick Mahomes was the Next BODE. Deshaun Watson played the besieged magician. And Josh Allen looked like he was about to explode.
The 2020 rookie quarterback class was loaded. Even Trevor Lawrence de Clemson, who had not yet left college, was an electrifying story of the first NFL quarterback this season.
Somewhere behind the collective pop champagne for the next generation, Tom Brady has emerged as the aging “all-in” bet for an unfortunate Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise. And further north, Aaron Rodgers absorbed the Green Bay Packers by passing a first-round draft pick with a player who is being prepared to eventually accept his job. On Sunday, Brady or Rodgers will advance the NFC title game with a chance to end an NFL party that seems to be struggling to survive without them. Regardless of whether the AFC title game produced Kansas City Chiefs and Mahomes or Buffalo Bills and Allen, the quarterback’s story is set.
It is against now, with Brady or Rodgers representing the final sighs of a golden age, and Mahomes or Allen representing an era of “all” quarterbacks.
Youth against wisdom.
Porsche 911s versus diversified 401ks.
Decades of experience in big games against big bodies, bigger arms and crazy moves outside the script.
And, without a doubt, the oldest heads of state are absolutely here for that. Say what you want about your different paths to the NFC title game – from Rodgers’ MVP campaign to the kiss of Brady’s statistical chef suddenly propelled by a defense – both are challengingly presenting themselves as two of the league’s greatest defenders right now. Mahomes may be the centerpiece of the league and the current Super Bowl champion, and Allen may be the first favorite for next season’s MVP, but Rodgers and Brady are vying for the head of the table when this season is over. If only to prove that the baton will not be as much a delivery as a fight in the alley.
There is some bitterness in this search. Make no mistake about the fact that members of the first vote Hall of Fame still feel they have something to prove about where they reside in the game. Especially after Brady had his awkwardly empty break with the New England Patriots and Rodgers experienced another needle stick at a personnel department that continues to chart a course without him. Both have done a lot to let themselves go, either because of the franchises that each has lifted on their shoulders or by the league that is leaning heavily towards the next wave of multifaceted talents in the position.
After all, it’s not like Brady and Rodgers don’t see what’s going on around them. The lights are constantly being turned off for many of the contemporaries who helped define them in the past two decades, with Peyton Manning’s retirement in 2016 signaling a two-minute warning to arguably the league’s largest collection of “same era” quarterbacks. Eli Manning followed in 2019. Drew Brees will probably hang this up in the off-season, with Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers in the middle of their careers too. This is a group of players that define the top ten of virtually all important statistical measures for defenders, not to mention the Super Bowl victories brought to the table by brothers Manning, Roethlisberger and Brees. What is interesting about this NFC title game is that it cannot be assumed that this will be the last breath for Brady or Rodgers. Both insist they are moving forward in 2021.
This is certainly not a surprise to Rodgers, who seemed as dominant this season as any in his 16-year career. It was a campaign in which he not only declared (before the end of the season) that he believed to be the league’s MVP, but later supported it with what resulted in perfection at the end of the season. So that no one will forget, Rodgers is a 37-year-old when compared to Brady of 43 – and the Packers quarterback has repeatedly reiterated that he wants to play until he is 40. Given how his 2020 season played out, this seems less like a goal and more like a certainty.
He is also not alone. Brady is already planning to return to the Buccaneers next season and is supposed to say that Year 2 in Tampa will be the culmination. Rob Gronkowski has officially declared that he will be back in 2021 too, and Antonio Brown has said several times that he would like to continue playing with the Buccaneers’ quarterback. While it is crazy to think that Brady could be a better player starting camp at 44, it is important to note that he may have a more normal off-season than the previous one, including an off-season pass program where vital parts of the attack are adjusted .
Neither Rodgers or Brady is leaving. The NFC title game is not a big farewell. In fact, it is a prologue for the next season, when the teams around them should be even better. And that gives both of them even more motivation to treat the next three weeks as an opportunity. It is not just to add more coverage to your already rich resumes, but also to send a message to anyone and everyone that your era is not over as we might have expected five months ago.
Of course, the Super Bowl will be the final referendum for the advancing defender. But Sunday’s NFC title game at Lambeau Field retains its significance. Brady is coming up with a whopping 32 postseason wins and nine title appearances at the conference. And Rodgers outperformed all players throughout the season, including Mahomes, Allen and all the other defenders who played in 2020.
Aged or not, this is still a battle of titanic proportions, surpassed only by the size of the middle finger delivered by the matchup, sending a message that if the next era of dynamic defenders is ready to dominate the league, one of them is still going to have to prove it against an eternal wonder in February.
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