Who’s the Greatest: Tom Brady or Michael Jordan?

The debate over America's greatest athlete of all time enters rarified Air.

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Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots in action during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

As Tom Brady prepares to play for that coveted sixth ring against the Eagles in Super Bowl LII, ESPN’s Ian O’Connor is wondering how he’d fare in a different competition. 

The columnist is looking into who real greatest of all time player is in any team sport — Tom Brady or Michael Jordan? To divine an answer, O’Connor runs through several categories, from best performance with injury or illness (Jordan’s flu game gets the nod), to greatest comeback (Brady’s 28-3 Super Bowl LI comeback), to greatest clutch moment (Jordan’s 1998 Game 6 game-winner). Brady emerged victorious in a survey O’Connor conducted with two multi-sport stars. Bud Grant, the only person to play in both the NFL and NBA, refused to pick a winner, while NFL Hall of Famer and former Cal forward Tony Gonzalez chose Brady because he thinks Brady had a higher degree of difficulty. This debate will become only more intense if Brady ties Jordan’s six championship mark with a victory over the Eagles.

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