I just think the whole body of work is without parallel. The only comparison after last night's thrilling 28-24 come from behind victory over Seattle is Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw in the 70s and Bill Walsh and Joe Montana in the 80s.
If I have to define greatness I think longevity is what's hardest and most impressive-to be able to win year in year out. Part of it is maintaining the talent, but so much of it is the desire to win. It's hard to stay hungry when you've won as much as Tom and Bill have yet they continue to win. Their desire is still unmatched.
The Steelers set their records in a short window-4 Super Bowls in 6 years. After their 4th in 1979, they were nothing special as the Steelers became just another team. The Niners in that sense are more impressive as they lasted longer. They won 5 SBs over 13 years-but the rub is that Walsh left after his 3rd ring in 1988 and Montana was gone for the last won, with Steve Young in his place.
Again, what I find impressive is longevity and for that reason, that Niners franchise was very impressive. Even after what was their last SB in 1994, they had 4 more seasons with at least 11 wins per yer-again, longevity. It's not easy to win even won SB but in way a franchise can get lucky especially in this day of free agency and salary caps.
Only winning over the long term really proves anything and those Niners won for almost 20 years. They are closer to what the Pats are as Walsh like Bellichick had a system in place. The irony is that Walsh in a sense couldn't take it anymore-he kind of did a Dick Vermeil; Vermeil had that burnout in Philadelphia in the early 80s after rebuilding the Eagles and didn't coach again till the Rams in the late 90s when he finally won his SB.
Walsh by his own admission couldn't take losing anymore-even though his team lost so seldom.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8865286/former-49ers-head-coach-bill-walsh-first-book-lives-super-bowl-road-map-espn-magazine
Of course, once he retired he regretted it and it's amazing that the mahcine he left in place won 2 more SBs and had 10 more years of at least 10 wins every year.
In this sense Bellichick stands alone. I would claim that this makes him greater than Walsh as Bellichick never loses that edge. No matter how many times he wins it he's ready for more. It's been said that Brady is another Bellichick on the field who's more athletic. He too never seems to lose the drive.
What these 2 great competitors have done over 14 years is just astonishing. It's not just the 4 SB wins it's the 2 other appearances-happily losses to my Giants-and it's the 3 other years the lost in the AFC championship game. It's how this team has in Brady's 14 years as starter had only 1 nonplayoff year, 1 year under 10 wins-9 in 2002, the nonplayoff year after his 1st SB win-since 2005, not even though this was their 1st SB win in 10 years, they won fewer than 11 games just once and the last 4 years they've won at least 12 games every year.
Bellichick is not the most exciting guy at a press conference, of course. To the contrary he seems to go out of his way usually to be the least exciting guy. Usually teh point comes in the press conference where everything he says is kind of 'We just have to prepare for Seattle next week, Seattle next week, we're going to prepare for Seattle.'
He's not the easiest guy to like in those press conferences but he gets it done in a way that few other coaches have. Parcells was supposed to be his mentor but the Tuna was never this great-not even close. I say that as a Giants fan. The Tuna had a short attention span. The minute he got your team to the SB who was already looking to his next job.
He certainly was not fair in how he treated Robert Kraft who is a very good guy as owners go. I wonder if Parcells told the truth that day when he announced 'I've always hated football.
"Come on—anyone who paid attention to my career must have suspected it," two-time Super Bowl-winner Parcells told stunned members of the press at the Cowboys practice facility Tuesday, reacting to their disbelief with surprise of his own. "When did I ever look like I was enjoying myself? When did you last see me smile on the sidelines or in the locker room? You must have at least wondered why I was always so angry with everyone around me."
"I'll tell you why—I was goddamn miserable," Parcells added. "Football sucks."
http://www.theonion.com/articles/bill-parcells-ive-always-hated-football,2124/
The pressure did get to Parcells. I'm not sure he meant what he said on that day but that's just the point: he was the most emotionally mercurial man you'll ever meet. After losses this was how he could get. If you believe that the best way to build a great team was around a franchise coach, he wasn't your guy as he always considered himself year to year.
Yet, what's hard to understand is not Parcells or Walsh-most people probably can understand how in the end the pressure of what they themselves accomplished got to be too much for them. Most would either get bored as at least for a time Michael Jordan did, or do a Tiki Barber. It's how for Bellichick-I was going to say a guy like him but then who is like him-it never does and ditto Brady.
For this reason they are the greatest of all time I think, bar none. Others won a lot o SBs but none ever maintained such a consistent competitive edge at least in the SB era.
If I have to define greatness I think longevity is what's hardest and most impressive-to be able to win year in year out. Part of it is maintaining the talent, but so much of it is the desire to win. It's hard to stay hungry when you've won as much as Tom and Bill have yet they continue to win. Their desire is still unmatched.
The Steelers set their records in a short window-4 Super Bowls in 6 years. After their 4th in 1979, they were nothing special as the Steelers became just another team. The Niners in that sense are more impressive as they lasted longer. They won 5 SBs over 13 years-but the rub is that Walsh left after his 3rd ring in 1988 and Montana was gone for the last won, with Steve Young in his place.
Again, what I find impressive is longevity and for that reason, that Niners franchise was very impressive. Even after what was their last SB in 1994, they had 4 more seasons with at least 11 wins per yer-again, longevity. It's not easy to win even won SB but in way a franchise can get lucky especially in this day of free agency and salary caps.
Only winning over the long term really proves anything and those Niners won for almost 20 years. They are closer to what the Pats are as Walsh like Bellichick had a system in place. The irony is that Walsh in a sense couldn't take it anymore-he kind of did a Dick Vermeil; Vermeil had that burnout in Philadelphia in the early 80s after rebuilding the Eagles and didn't coach again till the Rams in the late 90s when he finally won his SB.
Walsh by his own admission couldn't take losing anymore-even though his team lost so seldom.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8865286/former-49ers-head-coach-bill-walsh-first-book-lives-super-bowl-road-map-espn-magazine
Of course, once he retired he regretted it and it's amazing that the mahcine he left in place won 2 more SBs and had 10 more years of at least 10 wins every year.
In this sense Bellichick stands alone. I would claim that this makes him greater than Walsh as Bellichick never loses that edge. No matter how many times he wins it he's ready for more. It's been said that Brady is another Bellichick on the field who's more athletic. He too never seems to lose the drive.
What these 2 great competitors have done over 14 years is just astonishing. It's not just the 4 SB wins it's the 2 other appearances-happily losses to my Giants-and it's the 3 other years the lost in the AFC championship game. It's how this team has in Brady's 14 years as starter had only 1 nonplayoff year, 1 year under 10 wins-9 in 2002, the nonplayoff year after his 1st SB win-since 2005, not even though this was their 1st SB win in 10 years, they won fewer than 11 games just once and the last 4 years they've won at least 12 games every year.
Bellichick is not the most exciting guy at a press conference, of course. To the contrary he seems to go out of his way usually to be the least exciting guy. Usually teh point comes in the press conference where everything he says is kind of 'We just have to prepare for Seattle next week, Seattle next week, we're going to prepare for Seattle.'
He's not the easiest guy to like in those press conferences but he gets it done in a way that few other coaches have. Parcells was supposed to be his mentor but the Tuna was never this great-not even close. I say that as a Giants fan. The Tuna had a short attention span. The minute he got your team to the SB who was already looking to his next job.
He certainly was not fair in how he treated Robert Kraft who is a very good guy as owners go. I wonder if Parcells told the truth that day when he announced 'I've always hated football.
"Come on—anyone who paid attention to my career must have suspected it," two-time Super Bowl-winner Parcells told stunned members of the press at the Cowboys practice facility Tuesday, reacting to their disbelief with surprise of his own. "When did I ever look like I was enjoying myself? When did you last see me smile on the sidelines or in the locker room? You must have at least wondered why I was always so angry with everyone around me."
"I'll tell you why—I was goddamn miserable," Parcells added. "Football sucks."
http://www.theonion.com/articles/bill-parcells-ive-always-hated-football,2124/
The pressure did get to Parcells. I'm not sure he meant what he said on that day but that's just the point: he was the most emotionally mercurial man you'll ever meet. After losses this was how he could get. If you believe that the best way to build a great team was around a franchise coach, he wasn't your guy as he always considered himself year to year.
Yet, what's hard to understand is not Parcells or Walsh-most people probably can understand how in the end the pressure of what they themselves accomplished got to be too much for them. Most would either get bored as at least for a time Michael Jordan did, or do a Tiki Barber. It's how for Bellichick-I was going to say a guy like him but then who is like him-it never does and ditto Brady.
For this reason they are the greatest of all time I think, bar none. Others won a lot o SBs but none ever maintained such a consistent competitive edge at least in the SB era.
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