Tom Brady, in full Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr., (born August 3, 1977, San Mateo, California, U.S.), American gridiron football quarterback, who led the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) to six Super Bowl victories (2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017, and 2019) and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) four times (2002, 2004, 2015, and 2017).
While rising up, Brady typically attended San Francisco 49ers video games to look at the legendary quarterback Joe Montana—Brady’s idol and the person to whom he would ultimately be in contrast—play throughout the Eighties. In highschool Brady excelled in each soccer and baseball. He entered the Major League Baseball draft in 1995 and was picked by the Montreal Expos, however he determined as a substitute to attend the University of Michigan and play soccer. Brady, who didn't begin till his junior 12 months, led Michigan to victory within the 1999 Orange Bowl and gained a status as a decided and clever participant however one who lacked any distinctive bodily expertise. In 2000 he was chosen within the sixth spherical of the NFL draft by New England, and he labored diligently throughout his first season to bulk up bodily and enhance his power and method.
In the second recreation of the 2001 season, the Patriots’ beginning quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, was injured, and Brady was chosen to fill the place. His play was not spectacular, however he was constant, making easy performs and minimizing errors. With Brady as their beginning quarterback, the Patriots went on to submit an 11–3 file within the common season and to upset the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI; Brady was named the Super Bowl MVP. The Patriots grew to become one of many NFL’s elite groups, posting an unimaginable 40–12 file throughout Brady’s first three seasons. In 2004 the group returned to the Super Bowl, defeating the Carolina Panthers and incomes Brady one other Super Bowl MVP award. The momentum carried by way of to the subsequent season, because the Patriots prolonged their consecutive win streak to 21, breaking the file of 18 set by the Miami Dolphins in 1972–73. Brady and the Patriots capped off the season with their third Super Bowl in 4 years, this time towards the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the 2007 season Brady threw an unprecedented 50 landing passes (the file was damaged by Brady’s longtime rival Peyton Manning in 2013), and he led New England to the primary 16–0 common season in NFL historical past, incomes NFL MVP honours within the course of. However, the Patriots misplaced to the underdog New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. In the primary recreation of the 2008 NFL schedule, Brady suffered a extreme knee damage that required season-ending surgical procedure. He returned to kind the subsequent season, incomes a Pro Bowl choice after guiding the Patriots to a different playoff berth. Brady led the NFL with 36 landing passes in 2010 and helped the Patriots to a league-best 14–2 file. Despite the Patriots getting upset of their first playoff recreation the next postseason, he was named league MVP a second time, turning into the primary participant to seize the award unanimously.
During the 2011 season Brady handed for five,235 yards to grow to be—together with new file holder Drew Brees—considered one of two quarterbacks to surpass Dan Marino’s single-season passing yardage file (which was additionally damaged by Manning in 2013), and he led the Patriots to a different Super Bowl loss to the Giants in February 2012. Brady continued enjoying at a Pro-Bowl stage in 2012 and 2013, guiding the Patriots to losses within the AFC championship recreation in every season. Following the 2014 common season, he helped the group recover from its latest hump as New England routed the Indianapolis Colts within the AFC championship recreation to earn Brady his file sixth Super Bowl begin. However, that victory was quickly awash in controversy, because it was discovered that 11 of the 12 footballs that the Patriots had used within the recreation have been markedly underinflated, which may make them simpler to grip and journey farther when thrown. The NFL regarded into the incident, however no motion was taken earlier than the Super Bowl, the place Brady led a fourth-quarter rally in a 28–24 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Brady handed for 328 yards and 4 touchdowns within the contest to earn his third Super Bowl MVP trophy.
In May 2015 Brady was suspended for 4 video games of the upcoming season for his position within the ball deflations throughout the AFC championship recreation and for not absolutely cooperating with the NFL’s investigation into the matter. Brady and his attorneys appealed the suspension, arguing that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had overstepped the bounds of the collective-bargaining settlement between the league and the gamers’ union in handing down the punishment, and the suspension was overturned by a U.S. federal decide shortly earlier than the beginning of the 2015 NFL season. The affair appeared to inspire Brady, as he led the Patriots to a blistering 10–0 begin to the 2015 season that finally ended with yet one more division title for New England. He handed for 4,770 yards and an NFL-high 36 touchdowns that 12 months, however his group’s season ended within the AFC championship recreation with a loss to Manning and the Denver Broncos. During the low season, nevertheless, his suspension from the earlier 12 months was reinstated by the U.S. Court of Appeals and utilized to the primary 4 video games of the 2016 season. On December 4 of that 12 months, Brady set a brand new NFL file for wins as a beginning quarterback when he led the Patriots to the 201st win of his tenure. His sturdy postsuspension play (together with a career-low two interceptions over the season) helped the Patriots win a league-best 14 video games and seize one other AFC title. In the next Super Bowl, Brady tallied a then-record 466 passing yards in addition to two touchdowns as he led the Patriots to the biggest comeback ever in that recreation (overcoming a 25-point third-quarter deficit in time beyond regulation) to win an unprecedented fifth title as an NFL beginning quarterback.
In 2017 Brady led the NFL with 4,577 passing yards and likewise threw 32 landing passes and simply eight interceptions, incomes him a 3rd league MVP award. The Patriots once more had the most effective file within the AFC that season and superior to the Super Bowl for the eighth time in Brady’s profession. There, regardless of Brady breaking his personal Super Bowl file with 505 passing yards, the Patriots have been upset by the Eagles. In 2018 Brady handed for 4,355 yards and 29 touchdowns whereas main the Patriots to a tenth consecutive division title and a 3rd straight Super Bowl look. In the championship recreation, the lowest-scoring in NFL historical past, Brady helped the Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams, 13–3. It was his sixth title, and he grew to become, at age 41, the oldest quarterback to win the Super Bowl. He had considered one of his worst seasons in 2019, throwing simply 24 landing passes, his lowest full-season whole since 2006. The Patriots nonetheless gained an eleventh straight division championship that 12 months, however the group misplaced its opening postseason recreation. In March 2020 Brady shocked the sporting world by leaving the Patriots in free company and signing a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While not the strongest or quickest quarterback within the NFL, Brady established himself among the many recreation’s greats for his tenacity, his clever playmaking talents, and the exceptional management he offered beneath stress. He was additionally recognized for his strategy to health, which he wrote about in The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance (2017). In 2009 he married trend mannequin Gisele Bündchen.