Athlete Archive: Tom Brady

Tom Brady is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL. He spent the first 20 seasons of his career with the New England Patriots, playing in nine Super Bowls and winning six of them (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI, and LIII), both of which are the most of any player in NFL history. He has won a record four Super Bowl MVP awards (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XLIX, and LI) as well as three NFL MVP awards (2007, 2010, 2017). Because of his numerous records and accolades, many sports writers, commentators, and players consider Brady to be the greatest quarterback of all time.

After playing college football for the University of Michigan, Brady was drafted 199th overall by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. Due to his late selection, Brady is considered the biggest “steal” in the history of the NFL Draft. He went on to become the team’s starting quarterback in his second season after an injury to Drew Bledsoe and played for the Patriots for 20 seasons, the NFL record for seasons as quarterback for one team. Following the 2019 season, Brady left New England and signed a two-year deal with the Buccaneers.

Brady is one of only two quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl in their first season as a starter. He is also the only quarterback to reach 200 regular-season wins, Brady has never had a losing season as a starting quarterback. He has led his team to more division titles than any other quarterback in NFL history. With a postseason record of 30–11, he is first all-time in playoff wins and appearances for an NFL player, including an NFL-record eight consecutive AFC championship games between 2011 and 2018 (and 13 overall). Brady has also been selected to 14 Pro Bowls, which ties the NFL record for most selections. For regular season and postseason combined, Brady is first all-time in career passing yards and touchdown passes. He is one of only two players in NFL history to amass 70,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.

Brady is second all-time in career regular season passing yards, second in career touchdown passes, and tied for fifth in career passer rating. He is first in postseason career completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns, and is fifteenth in postseason career passer rating. He also tied the record for the longest touchdown pass at 99 yards to Wes Welker. He is the only quarterback in NFL history named to two all-decade teams, having been named first-team for both the 2000 and 2010 squads (the latter of which he was selected to unanimously). He was one of only 10 quarterbacks selected to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time team (and one of only four players active at the time they were selected), encompassing the entire 100-year history of the league at the time.

For his alleged involvement in the Deflategate football-tampering scandal, Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season. Brady and the Patriots won two of the next three Super Bowls, making him the record holder for most Super Bowl wins by a player, and the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, at 41.

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