At 42 years old, Tom Brady is still playing meaningful football in December while other quarterbacks with his resume at his age would be booking flights for Canton. While the Pro Football Hall of Fame will have to wait, the NFL 100 All-Time Team waits for no legend, retired or active.
The New England Patriots quarterback was named to the All-Time Team on Sunday night, becoming the second QB to be named to the exclusive club so far; San Francisco 49ers legend (and Brady’s childhood hero) Joe Montana was announced on Saturday night.
Eight other signal-callers will join Brady and Montana on the list during a two-hour special Friday at 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network, hosted by Rich Eisen and featuring Bill Belichick and Cris Collinsworth.
Brady’s NFL underdog story began in 2000 when he was chosen by New England out of Michigan in the sixth round with the 199th pick of the draft. Brady sat his rookie year behind Drew Bledsoe before a serious injury to the starter in Week 2 of the 2001 season thrust Brady into the starting role. TB12 would never relinquish it.
Brady led the Patriots to an 11-3 record, a first-round bye and then their first AFC title since 1996 in 2001. In Super Bowl XXXVI, Brady led New England to an upset victory over the St. Louis Rams and took home Super Bowl MVP honors.
Over the last 19 years, Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick have led the Patriots on an unprecedented run of dominance: 17 division titles, nine straight first-round byes, nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl victories. And they’re not done. New England clinched its 11th consecutive playoff berth last week and its 11 straight division title on Saturday.
All the while, Brady has been a model of prolific consistency, constantly resetting the standards for play, success and longevity at the QB position. After suffering a season-ending ACL injury at the age of 31 in 2008, Brady came back the next year and won Comeback Player of the Year; he has as many Super Bowl titles before the injury as he does after it.
A 14-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, Brady has won MVP three times and Super Bowl MVP four times.
Entering Week 16, Brady boasted a regular-season record of 218-63, a 63.8 completion percentage, 74,079 career passing yards (second all-time), 538 touchdowns (third) and 178 interceptions.