Dan Marino takes Deflategate jab at Tom Brady snubbing Patriots legend for 4x Super Bowl winner in GOAT debate

Tom Brady is widely accepted as the NFL GOAT due to his seven Super Bowl rings and many other all-time records. He dominated the league for more than two decades with two different teams in arguably the most most successful career in any sport ever.

Apparently Miami Dolphins legendary quarterback Dan Marino disagrees with Brady being at the top of the list when it comes to the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. He made his opinion clear during an appearance at Fanatics Fest 2025 when he made this bold statemant about Joe Montana.

Marino stated:

"He was the best that I've ever seen. Tom Brady was pretty good too, but he had deflated balls."

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Dan Marino is of course referring to Deflategate, Tom Brady's infamous controversy surrounding one of his AFC Championship victories with the New England Patriots. He allegedly contacted an equipment worker and asked for the footballs he would use in the game to be deflated below their usual standard pressure.

Apparently this is enough for Marino to take Brady out of the leading spot for the title of NFL GOAT in favor of Joe Montana. Most around the league believe that Brady surpassed the San Francisco 49ers legend for the all-time best-ever, especially after he won another Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers late in his career, his seventh overall and three more than Montana won.

Tom Brady denied Deflategate, but served his punishment

Deflategate

Deflategate is a notorious scandal surrounding the 2014 AFC Championship game when the New England Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts to appear in the Super Bowl. The weather was a major factor in this game with extremely wet conditions, but Tom Brady was accused of being involved in an illegal plan to combat this factor and gain an unfair advantage.

Ted Wells was hired by the NFL front office to lead the investigation into whether or not foul play was involved in the situation. He released The Wells Report in 2015 and stated that it was "more probable than not" that Brady actively and knowingly participated in the scandalous scheme.

The footballs were essentially deflated below their normal standards, allegedly at the request of Brady to an equipment manager, to aid his grip in the wet conditions and reduce the risk of the ball slipping in his hands. Brady consistently denied cheating in any way, but eventually accepted the punishment. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 NFL season, while the Patrions were fine a million dollars and were forced to surrender two draft picks.

Edited by Adam Hulse