Who is better, Brady or Payton?
Tom Brady leads with a GOAT score of 97.2 against 87.6 for Walter Payton — a gap of 9.6 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
AthletesTeams
Brady vs Payton
Shareable comparison — send this exact matchup to anyone.
Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Tom Brady above Walter Payton: 97.2 vs 87.6. Tom Brady leads on Longevity, Honours, Dominance.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
BradyWinner
97.2Brady wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Payton
87.6Payton wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/brady-vs-walter-payton
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Tom Brady
97.2
Brady leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Tom Brady
2. Walter Payton
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 24 · Form index per season
1. 🇺🇸 Tom Brady18 touchdowns
1 season by age 24 · 18 per season
Setting the pace at age 24
No verified birth date for Payton — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 24, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | BradyRetired · Tampa Bay Buccaneers | PaytonRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Super Bowl rings | 7 | — |
| Super Bowl MVP | 5 | — |
| League MVP | 3 | — |
| Passing yards | 89,214 | — |
| Passing touchdowns | 649 | — |
| Pro Bowls | 15 | 9 |
| MVP awards | — | 1 |
| Super Bowl titles | — | 1 |
| Career rushing yards | — | 16,726 |
| Rushing touchdowns | — | 110 |
| Rushing titles | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 98 | 87 |
| Peak w20% | 93 | 90 |
| Longevity w20% | 100 | 86 |
| Honours w20% | 99 | 85 |
| Statistics w15% | 95 | 91 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Brady97.2
Payton87.6
FAQ
Where does Payton beat Brady?
Payton does not lead any of the five categories; Brady is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Brady vs Payton score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Brady: 97.2, Payton: 87.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Brady vs Payton. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.