Tom Brady Officially Retires from the NFL

Tom Brady Entering the League in 2000

With the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots selected QB Tom Brady out of Michigan. In this draft, there were six quarterbacks selected before Brady and, as most QBs in this situation would, he took notice. Chad Pennington (18), Giovanni Carmazzi (65), Chris Redman (75), Tee Martin (163), Marc Bulger (168), and Spergon Wynn (183) were the six chosen to lead a team prior to Brady. The reason why the greatest QB fell to the 199th pick isn’t difficult to figure out, though. Michigan’s head coach, Lloyd Carr, hesitated to start Brady early his senior year after he was the starter his junior year. This tanked Brady’s draft stock and made it appear as though he wasn’t “good enough” – Boy, were they wrong.

Brady’s Showing at the 2000 NFL Combine

Brady showcased himself at the Combine as a sluggish California boy who clearly had little starting time in college, after sitting on the bench for the majority of his undergraduate career. In 2020, Brady went on to say that, “20 years ago, I was the sixth-round pick from the University of Michigan who wasn’t sure he would get picked at all.” He did get picked, though, but it was not due to his performance at the NFL Combine.

Although he didn’t perform as well as he’d like at the NFL Combine, the Patriots still saw something they valued and took the risk that others teams at the time did not. In the end, the Patriots ended with one of the best NFL Draft selections in the history of the sport.

The Many Great Years of Tom Brady

There’s a few places you could start and many years I’ll also be leaving out. I grew up a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, so I got to see Tom Brady make a laughing stock out of our franchise for most of his 23 years in the league, with his earlier years being some of the best.

2007

I think if you start anywhere it’s probably best to start in 2007. This is the year that Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning’s single-season TD record with 50 touchdowns and had one of the highest QBR ratings of all time (117.2). This is also the season where the Patriots were “almost” led to a perfect season. All good things sometimes come to an end and it certainly did for Brady and company when the Patriots met the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

2010

2010 can be easily compared to Brady’s 2007 season. Tom Brady went on to win his second MVP award and also led the league in TD passes once again, alongside touchdown percentage and passing rating. Although it was a great regular season for Brady, it came to a shocking end when the Patriots lost to Mark Sanchez and the Jets in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs.

2016

Although Brady missed the first four games of the season due to “deflate gate” he still went on to complete one of the best seasons of his career, only throwing two interceptions on 432 regular season pass attempts. He later went on to compete against the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl, where he led one of the best comebacks in NFL history and went on to earn Super Bowl MVP.

2017

After winning the Super Bowl in 2016, Brady went on to lead the league in pass attempts and passing yards in 2017. At the age of 40, he also became the oldest player to go on to win the league MVP. Brady showed up in the Super Bowl this year, putting up a Super Bowl record 505 yards passing in what was another shocking defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles, who were led by second-string QB Nick Foles. This is considered the Super Bowl that “got away” from the GOAT.

2020

The year that Brady left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 42-year old quarterback shocked the world when he announced that after 20 NFL seasons he would be leaving Foxborough to play for the Buccaneers, leading them to the postseason where they go on to defeat Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and then finally Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady, once again, proved why he’s the greatest in the game to do it.

The Many Faces of Tom Brady (23-Year Transition)

What’s Next for Tom Brady?

Tom Brady will now be transitioning from being considered the greatest player in the history of the NFL to the most interesting in sports television. For a while now, Tom Brady has agreed to a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox Sports. He’ll become their #1 in-game analyst and will work alongside Kevin Burkhardt.

For now the spot is taken by Greg Olson, who will be working alongside Burkhardt during the Super Bowl on February 12, 2023. Brady is able to step up and into the spot at any time, but he may consider a year off before doing so. I’d imagine we may see him in some capacity at this year’s big game, but only Brady knows for sure.