Here’s the strange thing about greatness: It is, all at once, inspiring, instructive, motivating and galvanizing. We can study it, learn from it, use it to better ourselves, use it as an example for younger generations, and use it as a baseline with which to compare the past and project the future. We can admire it. Argue about it. Celebrate it and, obviously, use it to sell magazines.
It can also get terribly boring, and perhaps this is the greatest complement we can pay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, whose assault on the NFL record books continued with a 31–15 win over the Eagles that was never close enough to raise an eyebrow.