Despite all of his success in college, Brady wasn’t a highly-touted prospect. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots with the 199th overall pick.

His first game as an NFL quarterback was the result of previous Patriots starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe getting injured. This sparked one of the great stories in NFL history when Brady led the New England offense to a series of playoff games that culminated in winning Super Bowl XXXVI over the St. Louis Rams for Brady’s first Super Bowl win.

Just two seasons later, the Patriots were back in the playoffs and won enough postseason games to win Super Bowl XXXVIII over the Carolina Panthers. The very next year, Brady led them to a win in Super Bowl XXXIX over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Since then, Brady helped the Patriots win three more championships under head coach Bill Belichick. The team won Super Bowl XLIX over the Seattle Seahawks, came back from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI and held the Los Angeles Rams to three points in a Super Bowl LIII victory.

During his time with the Patriots, Brady won four Super Bowl MVP awards, and his success has led to many claiming that he is the greatest quarterback in the history of professional football.

Along with all of the team success he has achieved, Brady has had plenty of individual success. He had arguably the best NFL season in the history of quarterbacking in 2007, when he completed 68.9% of his pass attempts for 4,806 yards and 50 touchdown passes. He had a passer rating of 117.2 that season and, though the Patriots lost to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, their NFL record 18-0 start was the best ever.

Brady has won the title of the NFL Most Valuable Player four times in his career. In his first 290 regular-season games of his career, he has lost just 65 times. He has been dominant with pass-catchers such as Randy Moss and Rob Gronkowski, he has also been able to get the job done with less heralded players like Wes Welker and Julian Edelman. Brady is regarded as a player who has been able to adapt to the roster around him better than any at his position in history.

While Brady is known mostly for his time with the New England Patriots, 2019 was his last season with the team. He joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting in 2020, and was the oldest active player in the NFL when he joined them. Before 2020, he was only the NFL’s third-oldest player, before the retirements of Matt Bryant and Adam Vinatieri pushed him over the top.

After he retires, Brady will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.