Born August 3, 1977, in San Mateo, California, Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. grew up an avid San Francisco 49ers fan. Brady visited Candlestick Park to cheer them on and was enamoured with their scintillating star player, Joe Montana. The Hall of Famer had a lasting effect on Brady, inspiring him to take up the sport and play the same position - quarterback.
BEGINNINGS, COLLEGE AND A FALL IN THE 2000 NFL DRAFT
Tom Brady was starting quarterback of Junipero Serra High School football team by his junior (third) year and by his senior (fourth and final) year, college scouts began to take notice. The multi-talented Brady graduated from high school in 1995 and faced a sliding doors moment when he was drafted by Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Montreal Expos in the 15th round of the MLB Draft. However, Brady was determined to play football, and as such turned down the offer to play professional baseball in order to attend the University of Michigan and suit up for the Michigan Wolverines.
In his freshman (first) year, he threw just 5 passes, and one was intercepted, and as a sophomore (second-year student), he appeared in just four games, but in his junior year he won the starting quarterback role. The numbers still weren’t too impressive, but by Brady’s senior year, he led Michigan to a victory over the University of Alabama in the Orange Bowl in January 2000. That proved to be the quarterback’s final game for the university, as he decided to enter the 2000 NFL Draft.
Tom Brady began life in the NFL as the New England Patriots' fourth-string quarterback.
Unfortunately for Brady, scouts didn’t see him as an NFL player. They thought he was too skinny to succeed in the league, unathletic, had a poor build, was knocked down too easily and lacked a strong arm. In the draft, Brady was the seventh quarterback to be selected and fell to the sixth round. The New England Patriots took a chance on him with the 199th overall pick, much to the quarterback’s relief, as he believed he would be drafted in the second or third round. After New England contacted him, Brady himself said he was pleased he didn’t “have to be an insurance salesman,” as he prepared for life in the NFL.
In his rookie season, Brady appeared in just a single game, completing one of his three passes for six yards against the Detroit Lions. It was in his second season that the NFL world would change forever.
FROM UNKNOWN TO THREE SUPER BOWLS IN FOUR SEASONS
On September 23, 2001, New England’s starting quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, was knocked out of a game against the New York Jets. Brady was hoisted onto the field as the Patriots’ new quarterback, and even though New England lost the game 10-3, he’d never be a backup again. Miraculously, Brady helped the Patriots to a string of wins, the AFC East title and an eventual trip to Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Patriots entered the Super Bowl as huge underdogs against the red-hot St. Louis Rams, but, somehow, the score was tied with 1 minute and 30 seconds remaining on the clock and Brady had the ball. In one of the greatest drives in Super Bowl history, he took the Patriots’ offense from their 17-yard line to the Rams’ 30-yard line to set up their kicker, Adam Vinatieri, for a Super Bowl-winning field goal. Viniateri fired the field goal in to make it 20-17 to the Patriots, and in a few short months, Brady had gone from complete unknown to Super Bowl MVP.
Tom Brady lifts the Lombardi trophy after Super Bowl XXXVIII - his second Super Bowl win.
Brady’s play, alongside the coaching of Bill Belichick, cannoned the Patriots into the NFL’s elite - even if they missed the playoffs the season after winning their first-ever Lombardi Trophy. New England won back-to-back Super Bowls against the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, and Brady took home his second Super Bowl MVP award after throwing three touchdown passes in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
In the 2007 season, Brady threw 50 touchdown passes, an unprecedented amount that wasn’t bettered until the 2013 season, and that ’07 Patriots side became the first team in NFL history to win all 16 of their regular season games. Brady, the league’s MVP, steamrolled through the playoffs before meeting the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. Eli Manning’s Giants won, 17-14, in one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history. However, Brady’s career was put on hold when he suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of the 2008 season and New England missed the playoffs. Upon his return in 2009, the Patriots were back to their winning ways, and the team wouldn’t miss the playoffs again during Brady’s New England career. The quarterback won his second league MVP trophy for his spectacular 2010 season, but that fourth Lombardi Trophy still eluded him.
BECOMING THE GOAT
Brady led the Patriots to a Super Bowl XLVI appearance following the 2011 season, again losing to Eli Manning’s Giants. The Patriots thumped the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7, in the 2014 AFC Championship Game to reach yet another Super Bowl, where Brady led a fourth quarter comeback to win Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks had the chance to win the game in the final seconds, but Seattle’s Russell Wilson had his title-winning pass intercepted in the endzone by a Patriots defender. It’s one of Brady’s more dramatic Super Bowl titles, and not just for the interception, as it was reported that the Patriots quarterback had played a significant role in a scandal known as ‘Deflategate’, which helped them reach the big game. Brady was accused of having the footballs that the Patriots used to defeat the Colts deflated, making them easier to throw and catch, and giving them an unfair advantage.
Tom Brady led the Patriots to the greatest Super Bowl comeback in NFL history againest the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
As a result, Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season, and when he returned to the team, they marched all the way to Super Bowl LI - a game which would go down as one of his greatest. The Patriots faced the Atlanta Falcons, who soared to a 28-3 lead over New England in the third quarter. Somehow, Brady orchestrated the greatest comeback in NFL history, tying the game at 28 at the end of regulation, and leading the game-winning scoring drive in overtime. Brady won his fifth ring - one more than his childhood hero Joe Montana - and confirmed his status as the GOAT in the eyes of many.
Brady won his third NFL MVP award for his efforts in the 2017 season and advanced to his eighth Super Bowl, but lost Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles. The following season he got his hands on the Lombardi Trophy for the sixth time, defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3, in Super Bowl LIII.
Tampa bay and beyond
After 20 years, nine Super Bowl appearances, six Lombardi Trophies and a record four Super Bowl MVP awards, Brady did the unthinkable and walked away from the New England Patriots in 2020. He moved to Florida, joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and convinced long-time Patriots teammate, tight end Rob Gronkowski, to come out of retirement and join him.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Brady won Super Bowl ring number seven (and Super Bowl MVP number five) at the age of 43, cementing his legacy as the GOAT, and silencing the critics who believed his success was due to Belichick’s coaching in New England.
After 20 years in New England, Tom Brady moved to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - immediately winning his seventh Super Bowl.
In the 2021 season, his 22nd in the NFL, Brady continued to defy Father Time, exceed all expectations, and prove the doubters wrong. The quarterback threw for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns in one of his best statistical seasons, but Brady failed to make another Super Bowl appearance when, against the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, his comeback fell just short.
Then, in February 2022, the unthinkable happened. Tom Brady retired from the NFL, citing a desire to be with his family. But just 40 days after announcing his decision to step away from football on social media, Brady came out of his short-lived retirement, and he suited up for the Buccaneers in the opening game of the 2022 season - becoming the oldest quarterback to start a game in NFL history.
Despite a disappointing 8-9 record - Brady finished the 2022 season with an NFC South title and yet another playoff appearance, along with the record for the most completions in a single season. The Buccaneers went on to lose to the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round - marking the first time that Brady lost in the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 2013.
On February 1st 2023, Tom Brady officially announced his retirement from the NFL. While Brady won't be eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame until 2028, Patriots owner Robert Kraft waived the 4-year waiting period and, on June 12th 2024, introduced Brady as the 35th member of the Patriots Hall of Fame. At the ceremony, it was announced that not only would Brady's No. 12 jersey be retired, but a statue of the legendary quarterback would be erected outside Gillette Stadium.Known for his meticulous diet and training methods - since turned into best-selling books and programmes detailing his workout routine dubbed ‘The TB12 Method’ - and fierce competitive spirit, Tom Brady is almost universally seen as the greatest NFL player of all time. With his name atop almost every quarterback record in league history and seven Super Bowl titles under his belt, it’s easy to see why.
