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Former USC Trojans' Quarterback Matt Leinart Ranks Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes All-Time

Former USC Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart weighed in on the ongoing Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes debate for who the greatest quarterback in NFL history is. Mahomes is now 3-2 in Super Bowls after and the Kansas City Chiefs loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Cory Pappas

Nov 29, 2021; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Matt Leinart attends a press conference to introduce Riley as Southern California Trojans head coach at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Nov 29, 2021; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Matt Leinart attends a press conference to introduce Riley as Southern California Trojans head coach at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Former USC Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart weighed in on the Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes debate for who is the “GOAT” following the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59 on Sunday. 

Matt Leinart Gives Nod To Tom Brady

Jan 4, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Matt Leinart attends a game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Southern Calif
Jan 4, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Matt Leinart attends a game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Southern California Trojans at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The question of who the greatest quarterback in NFL history was a trending topic in lead up to the Super Bowl last week.

Matt Leinart doesn’t seem to think that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be able to catch Tom Brady to earn the label of “Greatest Quarterback of All Time.” Leinart said this on his weekly show called Throwbacks on Thursday. 

“Winning, and greatness, and the moment, and just in that category, it’s Brady,” Leinart said. “Mahomes may or may not get there…Mahomes is going to go down as probably the second greatest quarterback to ever play. Maybe he catches Brady maybe he doesn’t, but two Super Bowl losses they got completely routed.”

Leinart also made an NBA comparison between Brady and Mahomes to Michael Jordan and LeBron James. His point is that Mahomes and LeBron’s talent may stand out more, but Jordan and Brady are greater because of their ability to get the job done when it’s winning time. 

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Brady vs. Mahomes Debate

Feb 7, 2021; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (left) greets Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick
Feb 7, 2021; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (left) greets Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes following Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Brady vs. Mahomes debate will be put on ice until at least next season after the Chiefs blowout loss to the Eagles. If the Chiefs won, it would have capped off the first ever three-peat in NFL history. Kansas City won Super Bowl 57 against the Eagles and Super Bowl 58 vs. the 49ers. Mahomes has a Super Bowl 54 win over the 49ers as well. He won Super Bowl MVP in all three of his wins.

Heading into Super Bowl 59, Mahomes had a resume that was starting to stack up to Brady’s. Mahomes had already made four super bowls and had a 3-1 record. The one loss was coincidently enough to Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers team in Super Bowl 55, 31-9. Now Mahomes has a Super Bowl record of 3-2 with blowouts in each loss. 

Tom Brady won seven Super Bowls in his career and had a record of 7-3 in the big game. Brady had two wins over the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, and one over the Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, and Kansas City Chiefs. His three losses were to the New York Giants twice and then one to the Philadelphia Eagles. Another feather in the cap for Brady is that he led both the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Super Bowl wins.

The debate between Brady and Mahomes isn’t over, but Mahomes still has a lot of work moo do to catchup to Brady’s seven rings. The biggest thing everyone learned on Sunday was that Mahomes, as great as he is, is also human. 

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Cory Pappas
CORY PAPPAS

Cory Pappas is sports writer for USC Trojans On SI and Oregon Ducks On SI. Since starting in March of 2024, he has been writing breaking news stories, game previews, game recaps, and more across College Sports, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Olympics for Total Apex Sports. In addition to writing, Cory is also a sports data scout for Sportradar. He covers live sporting events ranging from college athletics to semi-pro and professional. Before joining the industry, Cory graduated from the University of Oregon in 2022. He ran track for Oregon's club Track and Field team. Before Oregon, he played varsity basketball and track and field in high school in Walnut Creek, CA. Cory is using his lifelong passion for sports and writing together.

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