How old is Tom Brady? Career timeline for legendary NFL QB, from Mo Lewis hit to second retirement
How old is Tom Brady? Career timeline for legendary NFL QB, from Mo Lewis hit to second retirement
Tom Brady’s NFL career is over — or so he claims, though he’s reversed his retirement once before.
Nonetheless, you’ll be hearing plenty from the the legendary quarterback in 2024. Before he joins the Fox broadcast booth in the fall, Brady will first be on the wrong end of a roast led by Bill Belichick and a slew of his former Patriots teammates.
Netflix’s roast of Brady is set to include Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Randy Moss, Drew Bledsoe and even Ben Affleck in addition to Belichick.
A roast is much easier to handle when you have seven Super Bowl rings under your belt. How much can anyone really say about the man considered the consensus greatest quarterback in NFL history? The people who spent years working alongside him likely know better than the rest of the football world.
Here’s a look at Brady’s age and career timeline as he prepares to be roasted by some of his closest NFL confidants.
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How old is Tom Brady?
Brady is 46 years old. He’s set to turn 47 in August.
Many fans started to notice Brady looked older during his final season, both in terms of appearance and his play on the field, but he defied Father Time longer than any quarterback in NFL history.
From winning an MVP award at 40 to winning a Super Bowl at 43 and later becoming the oldest quarterback to start an NFL game, there aren’t many age-related records Brady doesn’t hold.
Brady keeps himself in football shape, as he recently confirmed. And he didn’t exactly deny the idea that he would consider a return to the NFL under the right circumstances. Could a 47-year-old really play competitive football after so much time away? Don’t put it past him — after all, Brady has defied the odds before.
Tom Brady career timeline
2000: Patriots select Brady in sixth round
The Patriots didn’t necessarily expect Brady to become a starter, let alone an all-time great, when they drafted him. Brady was the No. 199 pick of the 2000 NFL Draft out of Michigan, chosen as depth behind starter Drew Bledsoe.
2001: Brady replaces injured Drew Bledsoe, wins first Super Bowl
Brady secured the backup role behind Bledsoe in 2001, and a hit by Mo Lewis that left Bledsoe injured early in the season allowed the young quarterback to take the reins of the Patriots’ offense.
While Brady’s first season as a starter wasn’t outstanding from a statistical standpoint, he more than did his job as a replacement and did enough with New England’s offense to guide the Patriots to one of the all-time stunning Super Bowl wins. It was the franchise’s first championship.
2003: Brady, Patriots win second Super Bowl
After missing the playoffs in 2002, Brady rebounded by leading the Patriots to a 14-2 record in the 2003 regular season. New England climbed back to the pinnacle of the sport with a Super Bowl win over the Panthers, and Brady finished third in MVP voting.
MORE: Updated NFL power rankings post-draft
2004: Patriots win back-to-back championships
Brady and the Patriots won 14 games again in the 2004 regular season and found their way right back to the top with a Super Bowl win over Andy Reid’s Eagles.
The 2003-2004 Patriots were the last NFL team to win back-to-back championships until the Chiefs won Super Bowl 58 in February.
2007: Undefeated regular season ends in Super Bowl disappointment
Brady turned in his best season to date in 2007, completing just under 69% of his passes and tossing a ridiculous 50 touchdown passes. With an ultra-talented group around him, Brady led the Patriots to a perfect 16-0 record.
This time, though, New England found itself on the wrong end of a Super Bowl stunner. The Giants ended the Patriots’ bid for perfection and ended Brady’s season in disappointing fashion.
2008: Brady tears ACL in season opener
Any hope for a revenge tour by the Patriots in 2008 was quashed when Brady suffered a devastating ACL tear in New England’s season-opener. Matt Cassel helped guide New England to an 11-5 finish, but it wasn’t enough to reach the playoffs in the AFC.
2010: Brady earns second MVP award
After Brady bounced back from the ACL tear with a healthy 2009 season, he found a new gear in 2010 and threw just four interceptions on his way to a second MVP.
Though the season ended without a playoff win, a 14-2 record and Brady’s nearly pristine year reinforced that the Patriots weren’t fading away any time soon.
2011: Brady, Patriots suffer another Super Bowl loss to Giants
Now seven years removed from their last Super Bowl win, the Patriots found themselves in prime position for the ultimate revenge championship against the Giants. However, the game played out just as New York hoped, with Brady and the New England offense struggling to find the success they did in the regular season.
Eli Manning and the Giants walked away with their second Super Bowl win in five years.
2014: DeflateGate scandal follows Brady’s return to the top
The 2014 season marked the end of Brady’s championship drought, as the Patriots won a thriller over the Seahawks with the help of an iconic interception by Malcolm Butler. That run was also marred by the DeflateGate scandal, in which Brady and the Patriots were accused of deflating footballs below the NFL’s limit.
The investigation began shortly after the AFC championship, and it led to four-game suspension for Brady among other harsh penalties for the Patriots.
MORE: Timeline of Patriots scandals under Bill Belichick
2016: Brady serves DeflateGate suspension, leads historic 28-3 comeback
After a series of appeals delayed Brady’s suspension, the Patriots quarterback was forced to serve the ban to start the 2016 season. Once he returned, the revenge tour was on.
Brady threw just two interceptions in 12 games, and he led the Patriots to a historic comeback win over the Falcons in Super Bowl 51 after falling behind 28-3.
2017: Brady, Patriots denied back-to-back titles
The Patriots were favored to win their second consecutive Super Bowl throughout the 2017 season, even entering the big game. Another NFC East team got the better of them, though.
The Eagles won a shootout to capture their first championship, knocking off the Patriots despite a Super Bowl-record 505 yards from Brady.
2018: Patriots win sixth Super Bowl in defensive battle
The Patriots’ third consecutive AFC championship resulted in Brady’s sixth Super Bowl win, even though he struggled much more than he did in the loss to the Eagles a year earlier.
New England defeated the Rams 13-3, holding Los Angeles out of the end zone and winning one last title during the Brady era.
2020: Brady signs with Buccaneers, wins seventh Super Bowl
As soon as Brady reworked his contract to guarantee he would hit free agency after the 2019 season, speculation was rampant that the end of his tenure with the Patriots was near.
While the rest of the world was engrossed by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, NFL free agency started up. Brady announced on March 17, 2020 that he was leaving the Patriots, and he agreed to a deal with the Buccaneers later that same day in a move that shifted the landscape of the NFL.
Despite not winning the NFC South, Brady and the Buccaneers went on to win Super Bowl 55 over the Chiefs thanks to a swarming defense. It was Brady’s seventh and final Super Bowl win.
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2022: Brady announces first retirement
Brady announced his retirement a week after the Buccaneers’ 2021 season ended with a divisional round loss to the Rams. It lasted all of 40 days.
On the eve of free agency, Brady tweeted his intention to return for a third season with the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay quickly moved to reload by bringing back a handful of key free agents for what many believed would be one final ride for brady.
2023: Brady announces second, final retirement after rocky season
Brady’s final season was tumultuous. While he didn’t have a poor statistical year, the Buccaneers’ offense hit a wall and wasn’t nearly as efficient as it was in 2021. Brady found himself getting hit more as Tampa Bay’s offensive line suffered, and he was mired in personal strife amid a midseason divorce from wife Gisele Bundchen.
The Buccaneers won the NFC South anyway, largely due to a lack of competition, but they were quickly dispatched by the Cowboys at home in what would be the final game of Brady’s career.
Brady announced his second retirement on February 1, 2023, claiming this one was permanent.