We sit here mired in the mid-November slump. The Red Sox are living up their off-season, touring Japan, getting ankle surgery, getting booed on Letterman. The Celtics are just getting rolling, and it's too early to assess them. The only thing interesting about the rest of the Patriots' regular season is whether they'll finish first or second in the AFC. At least there are always the Bruins (Drum, drum, cymbal).
So I've decided to focus on an argument that is only beginning to receive attention: Tom Brady is Derek Jeter. Twice in the last few months, someone has suggested to me that these two players are one and the same.
Usually, this observation comes after one of my expletive-laden taunts of the Yankee captain. Although at first I paid no attention, the more you think about it, the more comparisons you can draw. Don't believe me?
Jeter won the World Series in his first year as a starter. Brady won the Super Bowl in his first year as a starter. During their first playoffs, both were at the center of famously controversial plays- Jeter and the Jeffrey Maier "home run," Brady with the Tuck Rule. Both of their teams failed to repeat as champions the next year. However, both of their teams won again in their third seasons as starters.
After high school, Jeter almost attended the University of Michigan before being signed by the Yankees. Brady and Jeter would have overlapped there.
Both are heralded more for intangibles than statistics or raw talent. Both are widely regarded as team leaders. Jeter dated insane pop star Mariah Carey. Brady dated equally insane semi-star Tara Reid. Both are extremely popular with the ladies.
National television announcers show an amazing ability to over-complement both, apparently required to call each player "a genius" or "amazing" at least forty seven times per broadcast. This has led to a backlash against both players.
In my life as a Red Sox fan, I have been filled with hatred at the sight of six Yankees: Jorge Posada, Paul O'Neill, Roger Clemens, Karim Garcia, Jeff Nelson and Alex Rodriguez. Derek Jeter is not among them. Sure I love to boo the guy, but I can't really find anything hateable about him. And believe me, I've tried. Thinking back, I used to hate him because he was purported to be better than Nomar.
By the way, compare their statistics from 1997 to 2000, before Garciaparra's wrist injury ruined his career and turned him into Drew Bledsoe. Nomar had a higher batting average, more home runs and more runs batted in. Nomar (was) better (Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap).
Back to Brady vs. Jeter. Here's maybe the biggest difference between the two for me: Derek Jeter is overpaid. This year, Jeter was paid $18,600,000 to play shortstop for the New York Yankees. Read that again. It was easily the most of any shortstop in baseball now that Alex Rodriguez plays third base.
This year he hit .292, with 23 home runs, 78 RBIs and 111 runs scored. Granted, those are pretty good numbers for a shortstop. But are they worth almost $19 million? It's hard to find someone who would say so. How good can Jeter be if he's overpaid?
On the other hand, Tom Brady is making about $5,500,000 to quarterback for the New England Patriots. Eight quarterbacks will make more money than him this season, including Joey Harrington. He's on pace to throw 30 touchdown passes and throw for about 3,800 yards. Both would be career highs.
The fact that there's a salary cap in football is not an excuse, either. This off-season, Peyton Manning was rewarded with a contract almost identical to Jeter's. Whether Brady will receive a similar contract in 2006 remains to be seen, but is highly unlikely.
In addition, Brady in his first three seasons as the Pats starting QB, has already received more Super Bowl MVP awards (two) than Jeter has World Series MVP awards in his entire nine-year career (one).
Tom Brady does it with less. He won two Super Bowls with Antowain Smith at running back, and a collection of hobos and lucky fans catching the ball. David Givens? Bethel Johnson? David Patten? Not exactly star receivers.
Although the mid-90's Yankees won with unheralded players like Scott Brosius, O'Neill, and Tino Martinez, all those players were better than anyone on offense for the Pats the last few years, with the exception of Troy Brown. Wouldn't you rather have Paul O'Neill than, say, Kevin Faulk?
Despite the popular rumor, those early Yankee teams weren't without their stars; from Mariano Rivera to Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams and Wade Boggs, Jeter always had plenty of help that Brady could only dream of.
Sure, the Patriots had a fantastic defense backing up Brady. But it was Brady who turned the Pats around. The Patriots started off the 2001 season 0-2 with Bledsoe and had finished 2000 with a record of 5-11. Clearly, their defense wasn't good enough to win without him.
Ask a Yankee fan who the most important piece of the Yankees' championship run was, and the answer you'll most likely get is Mariano Rivera. And why not? He was the best player on those teams. Ask any Patriots fan, and Tom Brady is the only answer. I hate to sound like Tim McCarver, but the guy is amazing. He is the Wilt Chamberlain of the Pats.
Without Tom Brady, the Patriots would be a mediocre team. With Billy Crystal at shortstop, the Yankees would have won at least two World Series titles. Tom Brady isn't Derek Jeter. He's better than Derek Jeter.
