Chris BalasTheWolverine.com Senior EditorTen USA TODAY football editors and reporters can't be wrong ? right? The panel recently voted former Michigan and current New England quarterback Tom Brady the NFL's Player of the Decade over Indianapolis signal caller Peyton Manning. Brady's status as the only quarterback in NFL history to start -- and win -- three Super Bowls during the decade, earning MVP honors in the first two, gave him a one-point edge over Manning.
"Peyton has the better stats, but it's the big games that matter," former Pro Bowl tight end and current CBS analyst Shannon Sharpe said. "For the longest time, Peyton couldn't win the big one.""You normally don't see [sixth]-rounders turn out to be what Tom Brady became, and it was because of the 'Big Game,'" Sharpe said. "He got thrown in there after [Drew] Bledsoe was hurt and never looked back. One of the components of being a great quarterback is putting the time in [to study]. He has done that."Brady's streak of throwing his first 162 passes without an interception -- the longest to start a career in league history - and his 16-0 regular season record in 2007 also helped his cause. He threw for a league-record 50 touchdowns, including three or more in 12 games that season, and his 117.2 passer rating was second of all time, earning him league MVP honors.
"In watching Tom play that year," Hall of Fame quarterback Sonny Jurgensen told USA TODAY, "I don't think anyone ever played the position better."
Manning, Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb and Drew Brees rounded out the list of top five quarterbacks of the decade.
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