The New England Patriots and Tom Brady are two entities which are not separable. Although Brady currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he established the legacy of TB12 as a New England Patriots player. Brady helped the New England Patriots reach great heights and establish themselves as one of the major teams in the NFL. Here’s taking a look into the glorious career Tom Brady had with the New England Patriots.
When did Tom Brady join the New England Patriots?
Tom Brady was drafted by the New England Patriots in the 2000 NFL Draft. He was not one of the top picks that year and the Patriots selected Brady as overall pick number 199 in Round 6 of the 2000 NFL Draft. The Patriots picked Tom Brady as a fourth-string reserve quarterback for Drew Beldsoe, who was the starting quarterback for the Patriots in 2000.
When did Tom Brady play his first match for the New England Patriots?
Tom Brady featured in his first game for the New England Patriots in Week 3 of the 2000 NFL season. The Patriots were playing the Detroit Lions and in the 34-9 loss against them, Brady went 1 for 3 in passing and could only complete one pass in the game.
Brady featured in only one match during the 2000 NFL season. He made his first start for the New England Patriots in the third game of the 2001 NFL season. Brady performed well in the 44-13 win over the Indianapolis Colts and eventually established himself as the starting quarterback for the Patriots with Drew Bledsoe out with an injury.
How many seasons did Brady spend with the Patriots?
Tom Brady spent 20 seasons in the NFL as a New England Patriots player. He was a fourth-string quarterback in the beginning of his Patriots career and played only one game in his rookie NFL season.
Tom Brady’s New England Patriots Career Overview
Brady helped establish the New England Patriots as one of the most difficult sides to play against in the NFL. The rise of Tom Brady goes in hand with the resurgence of the New England Patriots in the 2000s. They were one of the most dominant franchises in the NFL through the 2010s largely due to Tom Brady and head coach Bill Bellichick.
Drew Bledsoe, the starting quarterback for the Patriots in 2001 suffered an injury in the beginning of the season which gave Tom Brady his big break in his career. As Brady filled in for Bledsoe, Patriots fans got a glimpse into the potential of Tom Brady. 2001 was the first season when Brady shone for the Patriots. He played a total of 15 games in the 2001 NFL regular season and started 14 of those games. With a passer rating of 86.5 Brady had established himself as one of the key players in the New England Patriots side. With 18 touchdown passes in 14 games, it was clear why Brady was charged with leading the line in the 2001 NFL Playoffs. In his first ever Super Bowl appearance, Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to their first ever Super Bowl win. He was named the Super Bowl MVP and cemented his place as the starting quarterback in the New England Patriots side. In the 17-20 win over the St. Louis Rams (now Los Angeles Rams) Brady completed a total of 145 passing yards and 1 touchdown pass.
The Patriots failed to make it to the Playoffs in the 2002 NFL season although Tom Brady led the league with the most number of touchdown passes (28). Between the 2003 and 2007 NFL seasons Brady put in some of his best performances as a New England Patriots player. He started all of the regular season games in these 5 seasons and the New England Patriots also had a five year streak of making it to the NFL Playoffs.
The New England Patriots won their 2nd and 3rd Vince Lombardi Trophies in the 2004 and 2005 NFL Super Bowl. The back to back Super Bowl trophies were topped off by a Super Bowl MVP honor for Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004) against the Carolina Panthers. The Patriots still remain the last team to have won two consecutive Super Bowls.
Brady had a standout season with the New England Patriots in the 2007 NFL season where he led the Patriots to an undefeated streak (without any ties) through the entire season. Brady also set his career record for the highest passer rating (117.2) in the 2007 NFL season. He received his first NFL MVP award in the 2007 season. The Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in seven seasons. The Patriots were the favorites to win the Super Bowl after playing 17 games without any defeat. The New York Giants triumphed over the Patriots to hand Brady his first ever Super Bowl defeat.
The 2008 NFL season is not one to remember for Brady as he spent the season out injured. He suffered a knee injury in the season’s opening game against the Kansas City Chiefs. It was the first year since 2002 that the Patriots had failed to make it to the NFL Playoffs.
On returning from injury in the 2009 season, Brady won the 2009 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. In 2010 Tom Brady became the highest paid player in the NFL when he signed a four-year contract extension worth $72 million. The contract guaranteed Tom Brady $48 million too. Brady won his second NFL MVP award in 2010 and also became the fastest quarterback to achieve 100 regular season wins.
The Patriots lost another Super Bowl to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI (2012). Brady led the Patriots to their 4th Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XLIX (2015) against the Seattle Seahawks.
Before the start of the 2015 NFL season, Tom Brady got caught in the Deflategate controversy. You can read all about the Deflategate controversy here. He served a four game suspension in the 2016 season due to the Deflategate. However, it did not stop him from helping the Patriots win the Super Bowl LI (2017) which was their fifth Super Bowl win. He also became the oldest player to win a Super Bowl MVP award at 39 years of age.
After the 2017 NFL season, Brady got named the NFL MVP for the 3rd time in his career. He won the sixth and final Super Bowl with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII (2019) against the Los Angeles Rams. The Patriots became the only other team other than the Pittsburgh Steelers to win six Super Bowls.
Tom Brady’s final season with the New England Patriots was the 2019 NFL season. Tom Brady helped lift the Patriots to become one of the most successful NFL teams to date. Brady won 6 Super Bowl titles with the Patriots along with 11 Conference Championships and 22 Division Championships. One of the major highlights of his career with the Patriots is the 2007 regular season, where the team went undefeated (without any ties). During the 2007 season, Brady went on to achieve a career-high of 117.2 passer rating. During his career with the Patriots Brady was selected in 14 Pro Bowls, became NFL MVP thrice and was named as the Super Bowl MVP 4 times. During his time with the Patriots, Brady was named twice in the All-decade NFL team (the 2000s and 2010s), becoming the only player to achieve this feat.
Why did the New England Patriots let Tom Brady go?
Brady left the New England Patriots in 2020 after 20 successful seasons with the franchise. In 2019 Brady had signed a two-year contract extension with the Patriots which was slated to keep him with the team till 2021. The two-year $70 million extension had a clause that Brady would allow him to become a free agent after the 2019 season.
Brady announced in 2020 that he would not re-sign with the Patriots. Bill Belichick did not want to re-sign Brady with a long contract as Brady wanted to sign, and it is cited as one of the reasons for Brady leaving the Patriots. It is said that the relationship between Brady and Bellichick had deteriorated in the later stages of Brady’s career with the Patriots.
Tom Brady enjoyed a long and successful career as a Patriots player, and newer pastures were calling out to the man who had won it all.
How many Super Bowls did Tom Brady win with the New England Patriots?
Tom Brady appeared in a total of 9 Super Bowls as a New England Patriots player and won 6 of them. He helped the Patriots win their first-ever Super Bowl and at the time of leaving the franchise, they held the joint record for the highest number of Super Bowl wins.
You can read more about Tom Brady’s Super Bowl wins and losses here.
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