Tom Brady Ranked No. 1 In ‘Top 100 NFL Players Of 2017’

Tom Brady was voted the No. 1 professional football player of 2017 in the NFL Network’s yearly top-100 poll.

Broncos LB Von Miller Was Ranked No. 2

The quarterback of the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots beat out Cam Newton, Von Miller and Julio Jones to take the top spot on the list, which establishes rankings based on a tabulation of 902 players.

Brady — who will turn 40 in August — was previously ranked No. 1 in 2011, the year the poll debuted. Last year, the two-time NFL MVP finished second behind Newton. He finished fourth in 2012 and 2013 and third in 2014 and 2015.

“Best ever. Best in the game,” free-agent cornerback Darrelle Revis said of Brady on NFL Network Monday night.

New York Jets linebacker Demario Davis added, “As long as Tom Brady is here, he’s got that No. 1 spot.”

After leading the Patriots to a historic comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons in overtime in Super Bowl LI last February in Houston, Brady was nicknamed “The G.O.A.T” (Greatest Of All Time) by many fans and prominent NFL figures. The win marked the fifth national title (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016) for both the QB and the Patriots, and Brady also won his fourth Super Bowl MVP award this year.

Brady missed the first four games of the 2016 season due to his “Deflate-gate” suspension and finished 20th in passing yards (3,554), tied for seventh in passing touchdowns (28), and completed 67.4 percent of his passes. In Super Bowl LI, he went 42-of-53 in passing for 466 yards and logged two touchdowns with one interception.

This year, Denver Broncos linebacker Miller — the 2016 Super Bowl MVP — finished second on the NFL’s top-100 poll, while Atlanta Falcons receiver Jones was third. Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Antonio Brown and Oakland Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack round out the top five.

On Tuesday, CBS reported that Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman denied a story ESPN published in May that alleged he was still bitter over his team’s loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2015. The story also claimed several Seahawks were upset over the preferential treatment the team’s coaching staff and front office gave to quarterback Russell Wilson and that this in turn led to disputes between Wilson, Sherman and other Seattle players.

Sherman and Marshawn Lynch, among other current or former Seahawks stars, have vehemently denied the story’s veracity. Sherman even added that any anonymous sources who provided inside information for the report were “cowards” and that the “made-up story” could have easily applied to any other team and quarterback.

“Just a made-up story, because you could literally say that about any team, any quarterback. You could say, ‘Well the Patriots probably think Tom Brady gets treated better than everybody else.’ It’d be a story,” Sherman explained. “You could make this story, this exact same story about any of the teams in the playoffs, and a couple that weren’t in the playoffs. Any competitive team that has a great offense and a great defense, Super Bowl teams — Atlanta and New England, Green Bay.”

“I guarantee you go to a practice in the middle of training camp and [if] you mic’d everybody up, you wouldn’t be able to produce that story,” Sherman continued. “You wouldn’t be able to produce that audio, because that’s what it takes. We play a violent, adrenaline-infused game that takes everything you’ve got.”

Brady has said he hopes to continue playing football until his mid-40s.

HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 05: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime during Super Bowl 51 at NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)