Remembering Tom Brady’s NFL debut on the 20th anniversary of his first start

Tom Brady is set to make history when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to take on the New England Patriots. The only team that the seven-time Super Bowl champion has never beaten? The Patriots. With a win on Sunday, the 44-year-old will have completed a win against the entire league.

The reunion of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick may not go the way that most people think. There could be a bit of bad blood between the two legends of football. Even more so since the quarterback was able to coax Rob Gronkowski out of retirement to reunite with himself and the Bucs.

Now that Brady is nearing the anniversary of his first start, here's a look back at the first time he took the field.

Was Tom Brady an instant success in the NFL?

Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round by the New England Patriots in the 2000 NFL Draft. He was the 7th quarterback taken in the draft.

Tom Brady has defeated every NFL team except the Patriots. With a win this week, Brady will become the 4th QB in history to defeat all 32 teams:

Brett Favre 32
Peyton Manning 32
Drew Brees 32
Tom Brady 31
4 others tied with 31

The only time Brady took the field after being drafted in 2000 was during garbage time when the Patriots were being annihilated by the Detroit Lions 34-9 on Thanksgiving.

Brady was meant to ride on the bench, learning from New England Patriots legend Drew Bledsoe. Unfortunately, in Week 2 of the 2001 season, a hit from Mo Lewis injured Bledsoe.

That led to Brady getting his first start on 30 September 2001, and it came against the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots went on to destroy the Colts that day with a final score of 44-13. The Colts quarterback at the time? None other than Hall of Fame inductee Peyton Manning.

The game wasn't much of a showing for Brady as he went 13-23 for 168 yards and was sacked once.

Those are not the numbers that he would come to produce in his 22 seasons in the NFL.

News reports taken during Brady's first start spoke of his degree in football IQ.

"Second-year QB Tom Brady was impressive in his first NFL start. He did a good job of recognizing the blitz and completing short, touch passes."

Brady would go on to outlast Damon Huard and become the #1 starter for the New England Patriots.

Some may have realized early on that he would go on to be one of, if not the greatest, quarterback to ever play the game of football. That person could very well have been coach Belichick.

Brady and Belichick would go on to win seven Super Bowl rings together in the former's 20 years with the Patriots. The Patriots would go on to dominate the AFC East division. They have won the AFC East title 16 times since 2003, only losing once in 2008 to the Miami Dolphins when Brady was out for the season with an ACL tear.

21 year age gap between Tom Brady and Mac Jones 😳 https://t.co/P4X7A5yawm

Tom Brady will be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee and has exceeded all expectations for quarterbacks in the NFL. He is still playing at a high level at the age of 44. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently 2-1 and are still heavy favorites to return to the NFC Championship.