@AFNfootballnerd
I get what you were saying...and how you were comparing your rooting against Jordan to now people always rooting against Brady. You were always looking for somebody new to root for that could take down the GOAT, Michael...like what's happening now in the NFL. Teams and players are always looking for motivation...something to get them psyched, ever if only for the next play, if not for the whole game. Which is why you talking about Maximus makes perfect sense. The rag-tag bunch of gladiators realized who was in their midst, and rallied around him and fought with a level of energy and confidence that the Romans had never seen before in them.
Then RebelTell decides that what you're saying is silly (his word), and decides to mansplain you about events and outcomes and random chance...which you never argued against. Some comparisons can indeed stink, but your comparison was about motivation, not about a previous game...or about which players will have the most impact.
You were thinking that the Buccaneers were an okay bunch the last few years, but now they get the GOAT...and they realize (not at first) that just maybe he could bring something to their group that had been missing. And it took a while; even Arians wasn't buying into TB12 maybe having a little more mojo left in him. Somebody finally realized halfway through the season what they had, and let the game planning evolve from the QB last year was a chucker of the pigskin and now we have a thrower, with as good a touch as anybody...and Brady still led the league with 83 deep throws (over 20 yds is the metric used). Ryan(75), Rodgers(72), and Mahomes (66) were the next three, then Josh and Big Ben tied with 65 throws.
So what you were saying is that Michael, the GOAT, motivated those around him (and you hated it lol), and your analogy of Maximus - a real historical figure - motivating a bunch of gladiators to Brady, the GOAT, motivating those around him to be better, to work harder, and maybe to achieve what these players never really understood was possible.
And you tried to tell that to RebelTell, that of course there are motivating factors...the ones you tried to explain to him with the analogy...but he went for the glib response - "comparisons are odious" ('odorus' was Shakespeare's word, btw, Rebel). And "the Spaniard" and his crew did defeat the Romans, and motivation can be a very powerful thing. Was it Shakespeare that also said, "On any given Sunday..."? Not sure, but a lot off us understood what you were saying, AFN, and what you weren't doing (comparing position players from one team to the other).
Cheers AFN 