The San Francisco 49ers have been undoubtedly the hottest team in football, winning their last 12 games including two postseason wins to reach the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. A large part of their success has been the play of quarterback Brock Purdy, which led one former 49ers player to wildly compare him to Tom Brady.
Former 49ers safety Donte Whitner discussed Purdy in an NBC Sports segment labeled “Hitner’s hot take”. He certainly lived up to the segment name, saying that Purdy is the ‘second coming of Tom Brady’.
“Brock Purdy is the second coming of Tom Brady,” said Whitner via NBC Sports 49ers on Twitter. “If Brock Purdy takes the 49ers to the championship and brings the Lombardi Trophy back to the Bay Area, I think we can go ahead and crown him the 49ers starter for the next decade. Think back to when Tom Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe. Now it is going to be Brock Purdy replacing the No.3 pick. But that is all predicated on the next two ball games.”
"Brock Purdy is the second-coming of Tom Brady."@DonteWhitner came with an extra spicy take this week 🌶️ pic.twitter.com/ESvS11tqNR
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) January 24, 2023
To be fair to Whitner, he didn’t exactly say that Purdy is going to have the kind of career that Brady has had throughout his NFL career.
There are some very clear differences between Purdy’s situation and what Brady did by replacing Drew Bledsoe.
Bledsoe was an established star in the NFL upon his injury, making three Pro Bowls before getting hurt and ultimately replaced by Brady. 49ers quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance have never been at that level as quarterbacks.
Whitner may however actually be correct with his assessment of Purdy’s future with the 49ers. If Purdy were to help the 49ers bring home a Super Bowl Championship, it may be difficult to deny him of a starting job for years to come.
