Jets' Marshall: Tom Brady 'not the best player ever'

Tom Brady's historic performance in Super Bowl LI wasn't enough to convince one divisional rival to declare Brady the greatest NFL player of all time.

"He's not the best player ever," New York Jets wideout Brandon Marshall told NJ Advance Media's Connor Hughes at a charity event Tuesday when asked about Brady.

Marshall did concede Brady is the best quarterback to ever play - just not the best player.

"We get caught up in that whole discussion, that when a quarterback is playing really well, he's probably the best in the business, and we think he's the best player," Marshall said. "And that's not true. When I think about (a) player, I think about a guy that I can put at corner, safety, defensive end, a guy that I can put back on punt return, chase down kicks.

"That, to me, is the best player. J.J. Watt, that can play defensive end, tight end, put him at tackle, make him lose some weight and he can probably play linebacker and safety. That's the best player."

So, basically, Marshall's definition of "best" is "most versatile."

Pressed to name the best player of all time, Marshall presented a few possibilities, but stopped short of picking one.

"Man, that's tough," Marshall said. "I would put J.J. Watt in that discussion. I would put Reggie White in that discussion. I would put Deion (Sanders) in that discussion. I would put Jerry Rice in that discussion. That would probably be impossible (to say for sure)."