By Jimmy Cunningham, howiGit Contributing Writer
New York, NY
Mr. howiGit loves his comparisons, so here is one for him: a comparison of the two most iconic heroes in New York and Boston of the past generation — Derek Jeter versus Tom Brady. As with most comparisons on this blog, this one will dig deeper than just the numbers and performance on the field, but will examine the whole person — and in the end will determine the more iconic figure.
Winning – Both Jeter and Brady have won a lot in their careers. Both have been in the playoffs every year except one, with Brady missing one season while hurt in 2008. Jeter has played in seven World Series in 15 seasons; Brady has played in four Super Bowls in nine years. Jeter has won five World Series championships and Brady has won three Super Bowls. With those numbers being too close to close to call, this is a push.
Result: Push
Records – Currently, Jeter is the active leader in hits in the MLB, and looks to continue to move up the all-time list. I have a bet with Mr. howiGit 
that he will break Pete Rose’s record for the most hits all-time, so we will see how that one ends up. That said, most of Jeter’s records are playoff records: leading in playoff hits, runs, and doubles. Along with that, he is third all-time in playoff home runs. Brady’s records come mostly from the 2007 18-1 season with Patriots, with his single season record-breaking 50 touchdowns being his crowning jewel. He also owns the record for most completions ever in a Super Bowl with 32 against Carolina in 2004. For both Brady and Jeter, career records have yet to be determined, but due to his touchdown record season the edge goes to Brady.
Result: Brady Wins
Clutchness – Mr. howiGit’s favorite intangible quality is clutchness. Both of these players seem to have ice water in their veins and step up when their teams need them most. Jeter’s batting average when his team is down is .317, which climbs to.322 when his team is down by one run. His career average climbs by nine points when his team is losing by any margin, from .308 to .317. His average also continues to grow on the games highest stage; the World Series, going from .308 to .321. With that, Jeter has a .400 on-base percentage in the 9th inning, to go along with a .333 batting average in extra innings as well as a .500 on base percentage in those extra innings. Brady has 30 4th quarter wins, in which his team is tied or down heading into that quarter. Along with that, he has engineered two last-minute Super Bowl winning drives and has been near perfect in overtime throughout his career. The edge here goes to Jeter. Looking at Brady’s career by quarter, the 4th has been his worst. He has his most interceptions, fumbles, and worst quarterback rating in the 4th quarter. According to quarterback rating, Brady plays his worst when his team is down, while Jeter elevates his play at crunch time.
Result: Jeter Wins
Women – Tom Brady has a gorgeous wife in Gisele Bundchen. I would question you to find anyone who would say that she is ugly. He also has dated Tara Reed, pre letting herself go, and also has a kid with Bridgette Moynahan who also is no slouch. But this one is not a contest. Derek Jeter has dated 6 women on Maxim’s top 100 lists; Jessica Alba, Vanessa Manillo, Scarlett Johansson, Gabriele Union, Mariah Carey, and Jessica
Biel. That is just the All-Star team which does not include a Miss Universe, singers, and actresses. Oh and he is engaged to Minka Kelly who was recently named sexiest woman alive by Esquire Magazine.
Result: Jeter Wins, by a landslide.
Endorsements – Jeter is endorsed and heavily featured by Gatorade and Jordan. He is also one of three athletic spokesmen for Gillette with Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, two of the best at their respective sports. Jeter makes over $10 million a year total in endorsements. He was recently in a movie, The Other Guys, staring Mark Wahlberg and Will Farrell. He also currently has the top-selling jersey in the MLB, coming in his 15th season. Brady, on the other hand, has endorsements with Smartwater and Movado watches, and makes about $4 million annually in endorsements. He also has the 14th highest selling NFL jersey, one behind Eli Manning.
Result: Jeter Wins
Personality- Derek Jeter seems to have the respect of his peers, media, and the public in general. The knock on Jeter is that his defense has declined. People that do not like him have the type of dislike that comes from respect. Brady gets much love from the media and seems to have a healthy rivalry with Peyton Manning. However ask the Baltimore Ravens or the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have both had issues with Brady on the field, what they think of Tom Terrific. I don’t think you would ever see Jeter get in the face of a back-up left fielder, a la Anthony Smith or question how many runs his team is going to score in the World Series, a la Plaxico Burress. Something I did not know existed before doing some research for this article is dickipedia.com. It is a Wikipedia type page devoted entirely to who the public thinks are “dicks”. Tom Brady has a page, Alex Rodriguez has a page, Derek Jeter does not. Jeter also doesn’t model his hair off of a 16-year-old Canadian punk.
Result: Jeter Wins
So in the end, Jeter is the winner, 4-1-1. The on the field was very close with Jeter winning one, Brady winning one, and a push. However Jeter really pulled away in the off the field aspects, proving himself the overall better man. If any topics were missed, let the debate begin.
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howiGit's Blog 
First and foremost, this is a post I’ve considered writing for a long time — you beat me to it. That being said, it’s obviously a very interesting comparison. Here’s my reaction to each section that you broke down.
Winning — Looking at the numbers as you did, it’s shocking to see how similar the number are given how many years each player has played. I agree with a push, although I think you have to agree that a QB has a greater impact on winning than a SS.
Records — I agree that Brady wins. Jeter’s playoff hits etc. are sweet though. They just don’t seem “recordy” enough, if that makes any sense?
Clutchness — This is the only item I whole heartedly disagree with. Sure, Jeter’s average raises a bit when his team is down or in the playoffs. Sure, maybe Tom’s rating goes down in the 4th quarter. That seems pretty irrelevant, as most of those games have already been won long ago. I need 3 World Series winning at-bats out of Jeter, and then a home run robbed that would have won another. Then we’ll talk.
Women — First off, Jeter has even said that half of the people that he’s been linked to are not true. That being said, he’s obviously had a lovely track record. Personally, I think he loses as he lacks the intimate connection that Tom has made wuith Gisele. To have an amazing connection like that, man, that’s what it’s all about. Especially when it’s with a Brazilian super model. But alas, you have been reading to much of the Prez over on Barstool. It’s all about quantity, varietyand being a “player” to you, isn’t it? I suppose if that’s the standard, Jeter certainly does win.
Endorsements — Brady is also endorsed by Audi. That aside, endorsement have nothing to do with anything. They could both have many more endorsement if they chose. This is completely irrelevant, and important to no one outside of business obsessed New Yorkers.
Personality — Sure, Tom has been known to make a few cocky remarks. Yes, he’s gotten in people faces. But I think that’s awesome, and that aside, he is possibly the single best leader in sports. His personality is incredibly under appreciated. He manages to actually talk and say something, yet have it all be about team. Jeter is a great leader as well and a respected personality. I’d call this a push — I think they are both great leaders, but I think that Tom is a more vocal and overall better leader.
Clutchness- First, it is alot easier to be clutch in football. Second one of Tom’s “game winning Super Bowl drives” came with 7 minutes left in the game. If that counts as clutch then every qb in the nfl has been clutch many times. Toms ratings go down in the 4th quarter and thats irrelevant? He is either protecting a lead and throwing more picks than any quarter or trying to come back and throwing more picks than any quarter. He plays worse when behind, Jeter plays beter when behind. Jeter has atleast 1 walk off home run in the world series, and in baseball it is a series so it is a different animal.
Women- Jeter has the better track record and is getting that loving connection that is all about with the “sexiest women in the world”, a woman who wasnt naked hugging a guy this week, and seen kissing a old boyfriend two weeks ago. You can’t argue Jeter wins here.
I think endorsements has plenty to do with who the public likes more. Companies arnt going to give money to someone who they think the public doesnt want to buy from. The public likes Jeter better is what I conclude from having more endorements from higher profile companies and being a higher selling jersey.
Tom may be a great leader but that wasn’t the catagory, maybe it should be, it is about personality. You are not viewed as a dick, disliked by teams that you don’t even play every year, talk crap to back ups, and talk crap and dont back it up and have that winning personality. As far as leadership goes there is also a pretty good coach who has pretty good controll over his team in New England, Tom’s success has alot to do with the system that he is in, both on the field and in the locker room. Vrable, Bruschi, Seau, Harrison, Branch, Faulk, and Seymore were all also leaders on those Patriots winning teams.
Clutchness — Agreed with the series being a different animal part. Tom throws an incredibly low amount of interceptions, so even if the number goes up in negligible. His record shows in the Super Bowl when behind he plays better. That’s what I call clutch.
Women — Fine, although the whole kissing model thing is ridiculous.
Endorsements — It’s all about what endorsement you except. Tom is known for turning them down. He also is known for taking less money so that his team can sign players. Two things Jeter is not known for. Having a higher selling Jersey is all about being in New York — there’s a billion more people than in Boston. Hence Eli sells more. Give me a break.
Personality — Those players were all good leaders as well, agreed. When Tom talks, he almost always backs it up. You talk in anyones face who talks in yours, back-up or not. Opposing teams shouldn’t like you when you are constantly beating them.
Jeters numbers in the world series also go up so I’m not sure where you are going at with that. Tom’s 4th quarter rating for his career is lower then Eli Mannings rating this year as a reference point, and you have been perfectly clear that Eli is very overrated, hmmm.
Jeter has taken less money in certain years to make his team more flexible in the off season so you are incorrect there. Tom has turned down Gatorade and Jordan, I don’t think so. There are also two teams splitting that huge new york market and your team claims an entire region. There are ten other qb’s ahead of Brady in jersey sales, you can’t put market on all of them.
Agreed with the Jersey comment. I think everyone in NE bought their Brady Jersey years ago — I’d bet you he was way high on that list a few years back when they started winning Super Bowls. I know for a fact that Tom did turn down some huge deals from companies like Jordan and Gatorade — I’ll get back to you on this one.
First off, GREAT article! As a Boston guy stuck in NY, I’ve had this debate a thousand times with co-workers, friends, family, etc. but never have been able to quantify my argument as well as you did.
That being said, there’s a few problems I have with your results. First, let’s get the disclaimer in here – you’re a NY guy (or at least I’m assuming that by the New York, NY header on the article) and I’m a Boston guy, so our points are obviously skewed.
Winning – Agreed it’s a push. Both bring the right mentality to their team and have led their teams to success. One could argue that Jeter has had a better (talent-wise) supporting cast on a more consistent basis, giving the edge to Brady. But, I believe that a push is a fair call.
Records – Jeter’s records, while individual, are based upon the success of his team. For instance, he wouldn’t have all those post-season records if his team didn’t make it to the playoffs. Brady’s records are more personal performance records and, while they do rely on the performance of his teammates, they didn’t rely on the success of the team as a whole…only added to it. Brady wins.
Clutchness – Baseball is a great game for statisticians. You can figure out the batting average of a player when he’s only seen two balls hit to him on days he played after a rest day when he was wearing his favorite undershirt if you really want to. That being said, you were very specific about Jeter’s numbers and kind of ambiguous about Brady’s. I don’t distinctly remember Jeter being the linch-pin to team success that Brady was – and that, in a simplistic way, is the definition of clutch. Without Brady, the Pats don’t win two of those three Super Bowls. Can the same be said about World Series with Jeter? Also, 4th quarter stats can be misleading. Interceptions on Hail Marys and situation where you try and squeeze the ball into a place you normally wouldn’t are almost requirements for an NFL quarterback. I have no proof, but I would bet you’d hard-pressed to find an NFL quarterback who has better 4th quarter stats than first. Edge to Brady.
Women – This is purely a quantity over quality conversation. Jeter has had numerous relationships with many hot women as you have documented. True, he disavows some of the relationships but, for the sake of argument, let’s say they all exist. Brady, on the other hand, has maintained longer length relationships with fewer (but equally hot) women. He’s gotten two sons out of the deal as well. And he’s seems to be happily married. I’m willing to give Jeter the edge here simply because, despite his higher numbers, he has kept his nose clean and hasn’t been involved in any scandals. That’s a tough order for any high-profile bachelor to do these days. Regardless, both have VERY hot wives/fiancées. Side Note: Personal preference would be Brady’s situation – but I’m a married Dad of twin girls, so I’m probably a little skewed in my thoughts.
Endorsements – First off, the NFL jersey thing is an unfair comparison. Eli Manning plays in a city that is home to 8,000,000 people. Brady plays for a city that is home to 645,000 people. Hell, the ENTIRITY of New England (all of ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, and CT) is only 13,700,000 (and you know that half of CT and some of VT associate with NY teams) people where NYC and half of NJ is 12,750,000 people. So, jersey sales are a tough metric to use. That being said, Jeter is more visible in everyday commercial endorsements. Brady seems to do less common, higher priced stuff. I agree with howiGit, this is a completely irrelevant metric, but I’ll give the edge to Jeter.
Personality – Brady plays football, Jeter plays baseball. I don’t think you can compare personalities here – especially on the field actions. Basbeall is a more mundane game where you don’t need to be violent or aggressive. You’ll get killed playing that way in the NFL. I’d call it a push here. They both never say the wrong thing in an interview and talk about team. Oh, your dickipedia.org reference has no bearing to this argument. How can you make any argument off a site that says Family Guy was never good.
So, I’ve got this thing at Brady – 2, Jeter – 2, Push – 2. And, honestly, I wasn’t intending for that to happen. I think, at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that they are both great atheletes and guys you love to hate if they play against your team, but you’d love even more to see them wearing your team’s laundry. Jeter in a Sox uni at Fenway would be unreal – although, at this point, I still might feel dirty cheering for him!
Dan, thanks for liking the article. It was something I put alot of thought into.
As far as records go, Bradys only records came when Moss and Welker arrived so supporting cast can be turned right around.
Women- Jeter has had the best of boths worlds, whether you want quantity, which he has, or quality which he has. Gisele is beautiful but I could argue almost every girl linked to Jeter against her, including his future wife. Brady also left one of those women high and dry when he found out one of those kids was on the way, that might fall under personality though.
There have been plenty of Boston athletes who have been very marketable, Larry Bird being one of them. My point here is that Tom Brady is not very well liked outside of Boston. Jeter seems to be pretty well liked outside of New York. People in Boston seem to think that Brady walks on water and can do no wrong. However most of the country simply does not like him.
As far as dickipedia goes, it is completly user generated that means people had enough dislike for Tommy Boy to spend time writing about how much of a dick he is. The guy talks crap, which you really only see like 2 qb’s in the league do, and the gets pissy when he gets hit. He left a girlfriend when she was pregnant to upgrade to Giselle. My point is maybe Tom isnt the saint he is made out to be in Boston.
All valid arguments. I think this would qualify as the mythical 6-beer conversation. We could honestly go back and forth and back and forth for hours on this – getting pretty sh!tty in the process!
I can’t really argue any of the points you made other than to say that I think there are some inherent differences when comparing football and baseball players in general. Especially when it comes to advertisement. Think about this one simple fact: all the athletes you mentioned – Jeter, Tiger, Federer and Jordan all play in sports where you face is not covered. Football players have their faces covered. It may be a small fact, but it does allow for more public recognition (I’m not arguing that this is solely why Jeter has more commercial endorsement). This happens a lot with professional snowboarders compared to professional surfers – even though there’s more money in the snowboarding industry, pro surfers tend to get more print and video commercial endorsements because their faces are more recognizable.
An interesting thought….it works except when you think about the sell out Manning brothers. They are eating oreos all over the place, minus the helmet.
You can’t dislike Tom for these petty issues when there’s people out there worshipping athletes like Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, etc. People dislike Brady because he’s been so good at winning he’s seen as untouchable. People don’t like that. Him and Jeter are strikingly similar in how they are perceived outside of Boston and NY, I’d say.
I know it is hard for football players to get endorsements, but baseball is no walk in the park either. Baseball does not have the popularity that football has. Players like Peyton Manning have been very very sucessful with endorsements and he plays in a smaller market then Brady. It has to do with being amicable and really having a general popularity of the public.
I would watch calling anyone a sell out when you have this guy: http://thesportshernia.typepad.com/blog/2008/02/the-nfl-combine.html
becoming this guy: http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/famecrawler/archive/2007/08/03/tom-brady-turns-30-people-line-up-to-spank-him.aspx
becoming this guy: http://blogs.b937online.com/cmurphy/2010/06/16/tom-brady-has-bieber-fever/
He’s just a normal looking guy, who is all for animal rights, and needs a haircut. What’s wrong with that. I don’t even need to go pull Eli pictures on this one, you can just use our imagination.
A fair assessment all around, I’d say.
I really don’t think they are viewed the same way outside of their respected city, Tom is seen as a cocky “everything i do is better then you” attitude and is above everyone. I have heard complaints from inside Boston that Brady acts like he above Boston. He has a way about him like he is the preppy rich kid that runs to his rich daddy with all his problems. I dont see Jeter the same way.
Hahahaha. This is hilarious coming from a Yankees fan. Brady really isn’t seen that way, which is funny, because that’s how pretty much the entire country views all of the Yankees players.
Yeah and I dont see the Yankees that way either, sometimes you are too close to the forest to see the trees. The coach is disliked for being a liar, grumpy cheater. Their qb is disliked for walking around like his boo boo dont stink, and their fans seem to be shocked when someone does not like their team. Congrads you cheer for the Yankees of football, with out the historic winning history.
First off, the “too close to the forest to see the trees” comment was fantastic. It makes me feel like a geek who is just cracking into a new pack of magic cards. I totally see why Belicheck is disliked. It’s not hard. But a lot of Tom’s “attitude” is a figment of your imagination. He routinely speaks veryyyyyy humbly after games. He holds himself to high standards, but that’s ok. I’m not shocked when people dislike the Pats either. If your a winner, you have a target on your back. The Patriots are not the Yankees of football, they play as a team.
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Thanks alot Dan. I really appreciate you passing it along.
Oh and a qb with a higher rating in the 4th then the 1st is Eli Manning.
Not a problem – my pleasure. Fair enough on the QB rating thing. But let me ask you, who would you rather have leading your team down the field with two minutes and no timeouts left: Tom Brady or Peyton’s retarded little brother?
I’d take Tom throwing lefty.
There’s nowhere to go but up when your Eli.
Oh there are plenty places to go but, I have never seen anyone so bitter. It actually amuses me.
Bitter is not the right word. Baffled by others perception is him is more like it.
As good as Derek Jeter is Tom Brady is simply on another level in terms of the sports world.
Tom Brady is a top 10 football player of all time. One of the greats ever.
Derek Jeter is a certain hall of famer but I could think of at least 25 people who were substantially better than him.
I’d have to agree here.
I will disagree but we have already had this argument.
This also went beyond the on the field
True.
Hello, this is first time to visit this site. It is seems very nice site to me. It might not be a popular idea, but it makes sense.
Well welcome. This site is the next google, so tell all your friends ahead of time.
Welcome! and Puiguyana, I have to agree with you this site is not a popular idea.
What is this, high school? This site is not about being a popularity contest. It’s about the world, how i G it. Duh.
yes this is high school and while im sitting in the back of the cafeteria with the cool kids you are sitting up front with the losers
I’m off to play The Gathering. Later loser.
great article Jbone, I enjoyed it and it was pretty much written with a level head.
I have one bit of information that is kind of a mash up of personality/like-ability/influence.. Askmen.com recently came out with their list of the 49 most influential men of 2010. Jeter was absent from the list while Brady came in at no. 26.
But to put the list into perspective and to mention a few notables: the old spice commercial guy came in at no. 30. Ben Afflek is one ahead of Brady at 25. Eminem at no. 24, Obama at no. 21, Lebron at 17, Jay-Z at 13 Drew Brees at no. 6, Kanye West at no. 5 and John Stewart was no. 1
http://www.askmen.com/specials/top_49_men/
This seems like a very strange order….
Because he tore his ACL? I’ve done that and I can’t influence my girlfriends dog not to piss on my couch.
I am not sure ask men knows the definition of influence
Yea they definitely don’t. Jon Stewart is pretty cool though.
I’m lost. I did it to myself.
I do enjoy John Stewart as well. However he really holds very little influence over me. Also why did they choose 49? They make that hodge podge list but couldnt find one more “influential” person.
50th was Jeter…they left him off just so we could have this discussion…
Ha those ask men people are very considerate
wow, alot to take in here but I think I’m all caught up. Deciding who is more iconic between Jeter and Brady is impossible. No matter what evidence, tangible or not, is used the hometown will always claim their own as the winner. If there is one way to decide a winner though it must be done through the John Stewart arguement. Thankyou howigit for finally bringing closure to this almighty sports debate.
It’s an interesting one for sure.
i wish philly had a current stand out athlete we could claim.. i was trying to think of a comparison to either Brady or Jeter and couldnt.
i did come up with an interesting thought though in combination with the askmen.com list of most influential people..
what athlete has influenced your life the most?
even though i am not a huge nba fan i still have to say iverson, when i was younger i wanted to be him soo bad (not exactly sure if he influenced my life literally in anyway or if any athlete really ever has, maybe influenced isnt the correct word here but i hope u get where im coming from, halloween booze made me write this)
So your getting drunk by yourself and commenting on my blog, and I’m the loser? I’d say Mo Vaughn. He gave me hitting lessons when I was 11.
i was drinking with the cool kids at the moontower, and your blog is all i ever think about.
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