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Tom Brady says being called the "Greatest of All Time" is a title that makes him cringe -- because he handles criticism WAY BETTER than he deals with compliments.

Goatie McGoatface was on "Good Morning America" with Michael Strahan -- who told TB12 he considers him the best QB who ever played the game.

Brady replied, "I don't even like that. It makes me cringe ... it makes me cringe."

Instead, Brady explained ... "I wish you would say, 'you're trash, you're too old, you're too slow, you can't get it done no more' ... and I would say, 'Thank you very much,' and I would go prove you wrong."

Strahan asked if he was driven by criticism more than success -- Brady replied, "Yeah, absolutely."

So, what's the lesson here? If you root for a rival team, stop the trash talk ... and start trying to kill Brady with KINDNESS already!!!

Of course, Tom just won his 6th Super Bowl in his 17 seasons as a starter. He also has 9 AFC championships under his belt, 4 Super Bowl MVPs and 14 Pro Bowl selections.