From a California kid to the GOAT: Tom Brady through the years

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What If Tom Brady Played For 50 Years?

NFL

After 23 seasons of reigning over the NFL, Tom Brady is striding into the sunset, and this time it seems like he means it after his first retirement — announced exactly one year earlier — didn’t quite stick. Inarguably the most accomplished player the league has ever known — seven Super Bowl rings, five Super Bowl MVP awards, three NFL MVP awards — Brady’s path to stardom was hardly direct.

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Tom Brady played high school football at Junipero Serra High in San Mateo, Calif., and received interest from such college programs as California, Southern California, UCLA, Illinois and Michigan. A talented baseball player as well, he was also an 18th-round draft choice in 1995 by MLB’s Montreal Expos. He stuck with football and opted for Michigan.

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Brady takes charge of the Michigan huddle during a 1998 game at Notre Dame.

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Brady enrolled at Michigan in 1996, but he didn’t play much during his first two years of college. He served as a backup to Brian Griese, who led Michigan to an undefeated season culminating in a 1998 Rose Bowl victory over Washington State and a national championship. In his first two seasons, Brady completed 15 of 20 passes for 129 yards and an interception.

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Brady is shown with his coach, Lloyd Carr, after leading Michigan to a win in the 1999 Orange Bowl over Alabama.

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Brady split time with highly touted prospect Drew Henson over the next two seasons at Michigan but helped the Wolverines go 20-5 over his final two seasons in Ann Arbor. Brady threw 30 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions combined in 1998 and 1999 and closed with a bang — throwing for 369 yards and leading Michigan to a 35-34 Orange Bowl victory over Alabama.

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Brady is shown warming up on the sidelines during a preseason game in 2000, his rookie season.

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Brady was hardly a can’t-miss NFL prospect entering the 2000 draft, especially after posting a 5.28 time in the 40-yard dash and 7.20 in the three-cone drill. The Patriots took him in the sixth round, 199th overall. Brady wasn’t lacking for confidence, however. “When he introduced himself to me and said, ‘Hi, Mr. Kraft,’ he was about to say who he was, but I said, ‘I know who you are. You’re Tom Brady. You’re our sixth-round draft choice,’” Kraft said about their first introduction. “And he looked me in the eye and said, ‘I’m the best decision this organization has ever made.’”

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An injured Drew Bledsoe assists second-year quarterback Tom Brady during a 2001 win over San Diego.

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Brady played sparingly his first season, but when Patriots starter Drew Bledsoe — fresh off signing a 10-year, $103 million contract — was injured in Week 2 of Brady’s second year, the kid got his chance. Bledsoe eventually recovered but Patriots Coach Bill Belichick stuck with No. 12, who led New England to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth.

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What looked like a fumble in the fourth quarter of a playoff game in the 2001 season was ruled an incomplete pass in the infamous “tuck rule” game. A short time later, the Patriots beat the Raiders in overtime for the first of Brady’s 35 playoff wins.

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The Patriots opened the playoffs after the 2001 season on a snowy night at home against Oakland. They entered the fourth quarter trailing 13-3 before Brady led them back. Down three and driving with less than two minutes remaining, Charles Woodson, Brady’s former college teammate, sacked Brady and forced an apparent fumble. A lengthy replay review followed. Finally, officials ruled that Brady’s arm was coming forward even as it appeared he was attempting to “tuck” the ball back before fumbling. The Patriots went on to win in overtime, and the “Tuck Rule” was eventually abolished. It was the first of Brady’s 35 playoff wins, an NFL record.

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Brady & Co. celebrate in New Orleans after their upset of the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

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The Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl against Kurt Warner and the high-powered St. Louis Rams, with an offense known as the “The Greatest Show on Turf.” The Rams entered as 14-point favorites. Brady completed 16 of 27 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown and led the Patriots on a 53-yard drive to set up Adam Vinatieri’s 48-yard field goal to win it, 20-17.

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Brady holds his second Lombardi Trophy following a 32-29 win over Carolina in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

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Two years later, Brady had the Patriots back in the Super Bowl following a 14-2 regular season. Against the Carolina Panthers, Brady led another game-winning drive, sealed with another field goal from Vinatieri. Brady was named Super Bowl MVP after passing for 354 yards and three touchdowns in a 32-29 win.

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Brady calls an audible during the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 24-21 win over the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville.

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Another 14-2 season ended with a trip to Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005, this time against the Philadelphia Eagles. Brady threw for two touchdowns in a 24-21 win, joining Troy Aikman as the only quarterbacks to win three Super Bowls over a four-year span.

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Brady threw for 50 touchdowns and just eight interceptions in a stunning 2007 regular season.

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Brady’s best individual season was in 2007, when he won his first league MVP and threw for an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes as the Patriots tore through a 16-0 regular season and advanced to Super Bowl XLII, where they were undone by the Giants and the famed “Helmet Catch.” “I still think that was the best team I’ve ever played on, even though we didn’t win the Super Bowl,” Brady said in his ESPN documentary “Man in the Arena.” “Wasn’t the most accomplished team, but it was probably the best team. … It was probably the best team in NFL history.”

NFL: What teams has Tom Brady played for?

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Brady grabs at his left knee in the 2008 season opener.

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The next fall, Brady tore his ACL and medial collateral ligament in the season opener, ending his season after just 11 pass attempts. The Patriots still managed to finish 11-5 without Brady, starting backup Matt Cassel, but the team missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season.

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Brady celebrates after winning another Super Bowl MVP award in the Patriots’ 28-24 win over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. He completed 37 of 50 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns.

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Following two Super Bowl losses to the Giants and almost a decade of early playoff exits, Brady and the Patriots finally returned to the mountaintop in one of the most dramatic finishes in Super Bowl history. Malcolm Butler’s interception at the New England 1-yard line in Super Bowl XLIX sealed a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, with Brady collecting MVP honors after setting a Super Bowl record for most completions (37) — a mark he would eclipse two years later.

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The Colts cried foul after Brady torched them, 45-7, in the AFC championship game in January 2015.

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Brady came under heavy scrutiny before Super Bowl XLIX for his involvement in what eventually became known as “Deflategate” — allegations of improperly manipulating the air pressure in footballs that stemmed from the Patriots’ 45-7 win over the Colts in the AFC championship game in January 2015. He eventually was suspended four games.

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Brady and teammates celebrate their stunning comeback to beat the Falcons in Super Bowl LI.

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The biggest Super Bowl comeback of all time? Yeah, that would be Brady. With Atlanta up 28-3 and Falcons owner Arthur Blank doing a jig on the sideline, Brady — and the Patriots’ defense — forged a shocking comeback, eventually winning in overtime, 34-28. Brady set Super Bowl records for passing yards (466), attempts (62) and completions (43).

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Philly Special: Brady and the Patriots fell to the Eagles, 41-33, in Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)

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Brady has been on both sides of some of the NFL’s most magical moments, and the win over the Falcons was met with heartbreak a year later in Super Bowl LII, when Nick Foles and the Eagles upset Brady in a shootout. Brady finished with a Super Bowl record for passing yards (505) and three touchdowns.

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Brady and Kraft embrace after Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta.

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Brady’s 2018 season marked his last championship with New England, which he earned with a 13-3 victory over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII, his sixth ring. The win made Brady the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl at 41, another of his own records he would soon break.

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Brady signed with the Buccaneers in 2020 after 20 seasons with the Patriots. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

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After two decades in New England, Brady entered free agency in 2020 and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise that hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2007. By the end of his first year in Tampa, the Bucs were celebrating a Super Bowl victory and Brady had earned his fifth Super Bowl MVP award.

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Brady returned to Foxborough as a visitor in October.

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Brady returned to New England in the 2021 season for a Week 4 Sunday night matchup and broke another hallowed NFL record — most career passing yards — while leading the Bucs to a 19-17 victory. “It was a very emotional week,” Brady said about returning to Foxborough. “These guys are like my brothers.”

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Brady walked off the field following Tampa Bay’s 30-27 loss to the Rams in a divisional playoff game on Jan. 23, 2022.

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Nine days after nearly leading the Bucs back from a 27-3 deficit in a second-round playoff loss to the Rams, Brady ended the confusion about his playing status by announcing his retirement. But about six weeks later, Brady changed his mind and announced he’d be returning to play for the Buccaneers in the 2022 season.

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Tom Brady’s final game against the Cowboys did not go well, and he announced his retirement soon after.

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In his final season, Brady led the NFL in completions and attempts for a second straight season, but he threw 18 fewer touchdown passes than the year before and saw his QBR drop by nearly 16 points, the biggest year-over-year decline of his career. Tampa Bay again won the NFC South but did so with an 8-9 record, and the Buccaneers were non-competitive in a blowout loss at home to the Cowboys in the first round of the NFC playoffs.

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