In addition to rising above the Montanas, Mannings, Marinos, and Unitas, Tom Brady wrote his name among the greatest in sports history like Gretzky, Ruth, Jordan, Ali, Pele, Bolt, and Woods.
He is, without a doubt, the “GOAT” of football, his beloved sport.
It is said, however, that the young Tom Brady was never considered the best…. even within his own family, where Brady was the little brother of three sisters gifted in sports, particularly baseball.
Drafted in 1995 by the Montreal Expos, Brady decided instead to write his legend in the NFL.
The young Californian worked hard for years before getting the starting and winning role with the Michigan Wolverines. NFL scouts, however, shunned him. In the 2000 draft, Brady was recruited 199th overall, by the New England Patriots.
The number 12 carrier was reduced to a reserve role until September 23, 2001, when starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe was injured.
Brady then executes coach Bill Belichick’s system wonderfully. Despite Bledose’s return, it was the 24-year-old quarterback who took the Patriots to the Grand Finals and handed New England a 1st Super Bowl, in one of the biggest upsets in history against the Rams of Saint Louis, widely favourites.
Then begins the beginning of a dynasty that will defeat the NFL over 2 decades at the beginning of the millennium. With Brady, the Pats dominate their division with 17 titles in 19 years.
In 2003 and 2004, Brady won his playoff duels against Peyton Manning and again led the Patriots to the Super Bowl, which he won again.
Peyton got his revenge in 2006, and Brady would respond to that setback in the Conference Finals in spectacular fashion: the Patriots’ 2007 season went down in history with a perfect record of 16 wins in 16 games. Brady becomes the 1st quarterback in history to complete 50 touchdown passes. Only Peyton Manning will do better.
But the perfect run ends at the Super Bowl when Eli Manning’s Giants upset Brady’s squad. A scenario that will repeat itself 4 years later.
10 years pass between the Pats’ 3rd and 4th Super Bowl titles. As Brady ages and rewrites the NFL record books, his team reaches the Grand Finals four times in five years, and wins three more Lombardi Trophies. The most spectacular of these victories came in February 2017, during an unanswerable 31-point comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in overtime.
The unthinkable occurs in the midst of a pandemic, when Tom Brady announces his departure from the Patriots, after a 20-year association. He astonishes and chooses the Buccaneers for the rest of his career.
The unusual bet works. Against all odds, the 43-year-old quarterback won the 7th Super Bowl of his career, more than the history of any franchise.
Without slowing down, in 2021 he accomplished his most impressive season offensively with more than 5,000 aerial yards and a record 485 completed passes.
After an exit in the 2nd elimination round, Brady announced on February 1, 2022 that he was ending his career. A first retreat that will only last 40 days!
The quarterback is back with the Buccanneers, and is enjoying a final season of over 4,000 yards. His team won the National Conference South title, but was eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys.
It’s Brady’s personal life that gets the most attention, so he and Gisele Bündchen divorce after 13 years of marriage.
At the end of his career, Tom Brady has dozens of statistical and longevity records. Those that strike the imagination are his 55 victorious comebacks in the 4th quarter. In addition, he had 737 touchdown passes in the season and in the playoffs, not to mention his 286 career wins, including 35 in the playoffs. Most importantly, he was named Super Bowl MVP five times.
