36 Reasons to Wish Tom Brady a Happy 36th Birthday
Photo Credit: Keith Allison on Flickr
Tom Brady turns 36 today, and rather than write “HBD, TB12!” on his Facebook page, we decided to compile the 36 most telling numbers and statistics of Brady’s NFL career. Some of them you will recognize, or know by heart, but others will likely be new. We went sifting through Brady’s record-setting career to shed light on just how much he’s accomplished in his 13 year NFL career …
1) We’ll start where it all began: 199 picks into the 2000 draft, or approximately 198 later than Brady would go if NFL teams had the benefit of hindsight … or foresight. Thirteen years later, Tom Brady has started 199 games (including the postseason) and has a .769 winning percentage, the highest among active quarterbacks.
2) Brady has won 2 MVP awards, in 2007 and 2011—the latter as the first unanimous MVP in NFL history. (And really it should have been unanimous both times.
3) Brady and the Patriots won 3 Super Bowls in Tom Brady’s first four seasons as a starter.
4) Incredibly, the Patriots decided to keep 4 quarterbacks for the 2000 season, solely so they could protect Brady from being scooped up by another team if he were placed on the practice squad.
5) Never the fleetest of foot, Tom Brady was clocked at 5.28 in the 40-yard dash.
6) In part due to his abysmal combine performance, 6 quarterbacks were taken in the 2000 draft before Brady was selected in the 6th round. Those quarterbacks (for your trivia-answering purposes) are: Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger, and Spergon Wynn.
7) The Patriots have gone 5-1 or better against the AFC 7 times in Brady’s career. Brady has never gone worse than 4-2 against the AFC East.
8) During Brady’s record-shattering 2007 regular season, he had a quarterback rating of 120 or better 8 times. In 80 career games, Joe Flacco, the Ravens’ Super Bowl winning quarterback (and $120 million man), has accomplished that feat just seven times.
9) Brady has won 9 of his 13 matchups versus Peyton Manning, including the first six in a row.
10) Brady reeled off 10 straight playoff wins to start his career before losing to the Broncos in the 2005 AFC Divisional round.
11) In Brady’s 11 NFL seasons as a full-time starting quarterback (excluding his rookie season and the year he sat out after tearing his ACL), no AFC East team has ever won more regular season games than the Patriots.
12) Brady has made the Patriots’ number 12 jersey one of the most recognizable in American sports.
13) Having completed 13 NFL seasons in New England, Brady is the second-longest tenured player in the NFL to play with one team, trailing only the Chicago Bears’ long snapper Pat Mannelly.
14) Tom Brady has never thrown more than 14 interceptions in a single season. In 2010, Brady threw just four interceptions in 492 attempts — the second best interception rate in NFL history.
15) Tom Brady will make $7 million in 2015, or half of Mark Sanchez’s scheduled salary.
16) In 2007, the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to win 16 regular season games.
17) Brady has won 17 career playoff games, more than any other quarterback in NFL history.
18) Brady ranks second all time with 18 consecutive playoff games with a touchdown pass. Only Brett Favre (20) had more.
19) 19 different receivers have had 100-yard receiving days catching balls from Brady. Some, like Randy Moss and Wes Welker did it time and time again. Others, like Brandon Tate and Benjamin Watson did it just once.
20) The next time Tom Brady graces the cover of Sports Illustrated will mark his 20th appearance.
21) From week 5 of the 2003 season through the playoffs and week 7 of the 2004 season, Brady led the Patriots to 21 consecutive wins — the longest such streak in NFL history.
22) In 22 career games against the Buffalo Bills, Brady owns a record of 20-2.
23) On December 29, 2007, Brady set an NFL single-season record by tossing his 50th touchdown pass of the season. Randy Moss, on the receiving end, caught his 23rd touchdown of the year, breaking Jerry Rice’s single-season record.
24) At age 24, Tom Brady became the youngest quarterback ever to lead his team to a Super Bowl title.
25) On February 25, 2013 the Patriots extended Brady through the 2017 season.
26) Brady has 26 career fourth quarter comebacks.
27) Brady’s new extension is a three-year, $27 million deal — far below the going rate for a quarterback of Brady’s caliber.
28) In 2002, Brady led the NFL with 28 touchdown passes. He has accomplished the feat three times in his NFL career (2007 and 2010).
29) Brady has thrown a touchdown pass in 48 consecutive games — 29 more than his previous Patriots record of 19 — the second longest streak of all time. He enters the 2013 season just six games shy of matching Drew Brees’s record.
30) In his 11 full seasons, Tom Brady has thrown 334 career touchdowns, or an average of more than 30 a year.
31) Between November 26, 2006 and November 6, 2011, Brady won an NFL record 31 straight home regular season games.
32) No team has been assigned the 32nd pick of the NFL Draft more often than the Patriots during Brady’s career.
33) Brady scored a 33 on his Wonderlic test, a respectable score, though far short of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 48, the third highest score in NFL history (a 50 is perfect). Brady took his revenge by beating Fitzpatrick six of the seven times they went head to head.
34) Last season, Brady threw 34 touchdowns and just eight interceptions while compiling a quarterback rating of 98.7.
35) During the 2010 and 2011 season, Brady set an NFL record, attempting 358 passes without throwing an interception.
36) The first Super Bowl Brady won? That would be Super Bowl XXXVI. Patriots fans can only hope Brady’s 36th year will go as well.
