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

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
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.
And it shouldn’t matter. Mahomes is going to go down as probably Top 2 QBs of all time and we get to witness it for the next ten years. Enjoy greatness just how we should enjoy watching LeBron. 👑 https://t.co/5bURKwql7I
— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) February 13, 2025
“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
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.