Following his seventh Super Bowl win, Tampa Bay Buccaneers veteran quarterback Tom Brady solidified his hold of the greatest of all time (GOAT) tag in the National Football League (NFL). However, many consider Brady as the GOAT not just in football, but in other sports as well, ahead of basketball stars Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Just recently, Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin declared Brady as the greatest athlete who ever lived for winning seven Super Bowls in his 21-year career. Former New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora said the 43-year-old Brady is the best professional athlete that we’ve ever seen.

To end the debate, BetOnline created a GOAT map of the United States by gathering geotagged Twitter data during the last week when Brady’s Buccaneers defeated the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9, in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium. Per a report by CBS Boston, Brady emerged as the most popular pick for the GOAT title across the country from around 130,000 tweets that were geo-tracked by the company.

Brady backed by 20 states

Based on BetOnline’s study, Brady is supported by 20 states, nine states ahead of Jordan and James, who won six and four NBA titles, respectively. Brady is considered the GOAT in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida.

Brady is also considered the greatest in Michigan, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Alaska. Only one state in New England, where Brady played 20 years for the Patriots, is missing from the tally – Connecticut, which opted for Serena Williams as the GOAT. Four NFL quarterbacks -- Peyton Manning (Indiana), Aaron Rodgers (Wisconsin), Joe Montana (California), and John Elway (Colorado) had one state each.

Irvin says Brady did not use racial slur

In the heat of the battle between the Buccaneers and the Chiefs, Brady had some verbal tussle with Kansas City safety Tyrann Mathieu. After the game, Mathieu attracted controversy after he tweeted “He called me something I won’t repeat”, thinking that Brady directed a racial slur at him.

Irvin came to Brady’s defense, saying during an interview on the "The Rich Eisen Show” that the veteran quarterback never uttered any racial slur at Mathieu. Irvin, a co-host of "Inside the NFL," said that he heard an audio of the conversation between Brady and Mathieu from Fox Sports’ hot mic and he did not hear anything racial from the quarterback. Irvin also criticized Mathieu for making it appear that Brady said something inappropriate to him. Brady already apologized to Mathieu for the incident, saying he was caught in the heat of the moment.
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