TAMPA, Fla. — Former Buccaneers and Colts head coach Tony Dungy ranked Tom Brady sixth on his list of all-time great quarterbacks.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer explained why he ranked Brady so low during an interview with Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe.
"First of all, I don’t think you can rank across generations, anyway. So I said ‘I’m not gonna do that,'" Dungy told Sharpe. "I’m not gonna go by statistics or whatever. I’m gonna go by who was toughest on me. Not to say Tom wasn’t great. He is great."
Dungy said Brady's lack of mobility dropped him down the list behind John Elway and Aaron Rodgers. Brady was 5-3 overall against Dungy when Brady was a Patriot and Dungy coached Indianapolis. TB12 also held a 2-1 edge in the playoffs.
In response to Dungy's remarks, Brady, who is friends with Dungy, tweet an image of the Colts 2014 AFC Finalist banner. Chuck Pagano was the Colts' coach in 2014, but the joke was made, and there are no hard feelings.
"I was only referring to him as the Indy head coach, not as the Bucs head coach. It was nothing personal," Brady joked during Wednesday's news conference. "Coach Dungy knows I love him. I was just giving him a little grief. He gave me a little grief and I gave him a little grief. It was all in good fun.”
Saturday marks Brady's 300th career regular-season game. That's third-most by a non-kicker behind Jerry Rice (303) and Brett Favre (302).
"Football has just been a very important part of my life for a long time – 30 years. I love the ability to go out there and compete with my teammates and compete for our fans," Brady said. "It’s definitely a challenge for me still. There are physical challenges, there are mental challenges, there are emotional challenges. I just love doing it."
The Bucs (9-5) will earn a playoff spot with a win at Detroit (5-9) on Saturday at 1 p.m. They also clinch a spot in the postseason if the Bears (7-7) lose at Jacksonville (1-13) on Sunday.
Lions interim head coach Darrell and four assistants won't coach Saturday against the Bucs due to COVID-19 protocols. Receivers coach Robert Prince will handle the head coach duties for Detroit.
