Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes appear on 'Madden 22' cover

Patrick Mahomes shares ‘Madden 22’ cover with Tom Brady. Has he reached GOAT status?

Tom Brady, left, and Patrick Mahomes appear on the cover of "Madden NFL 22."

June 17, 2021 1:06 PM PT

Tom Brady is widely considered the GOAT when it comes to NFL quarterbacks.

So when EA Sports used a pair of goats to tease the upcoming “Madden 22” earlier this week, folks naturally assumed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback would be gracing the cover of the popular video game series.

Makes sense. But why two goats?

The answer came Thursday morning when the “Madden 22” cover was revealed.

Kind of.

As expected, Brady is on there. And he’s sitting next to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Both are undoubtedly worthy of appearing on the Madden cover. They are the first players to have done so more than once (Brady was on “Madden 18” and Mahomes on “Madden 20”).

But back to the goats. No one can argue with Brady being represented by one of the furry, bleating creatures.

When it comes to NFL quarterbacks, he is literally the Greatest Of All Time in numerous categories . He has thrown more touchdown passes than anyone and is set to move past the recently retired Drew Brees as the leader in passing yards early next season. And nobody comes close to his seven Super Bowl wins.

But Mahomes? He’s had an amazing start to his career. He and Brady might be the greatest quarterbacks at the present time (although Aaron Rodgers might have something to say about that).

But GAPT isn’t a thing.

And it seems a bit premature to crown someone a GOAT after just four seasons (even if those seasons include a Super Bowl championship and league most valuable player award).

Anyway, “Madden 22” is out Aug. 20. You won’t go wrong if you play with either Brady or Mahomes as your QB.

They’re both great.