Thomas Edward "Tom" Brady, Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. After playing college football at Michigan, Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.

He has played in four Super Bowls, winning three of them (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX). He has also won two Super Bowl MVP awards (XXXVI and XXXVIII), has been selected to four Pro Bowls (and invited to five, although he declined the 2006 invitation), and holds the NFL record for most touchdown passes in a single regular season. Brady is tied with Kurt Warner for the fifth-highest career passer rating of all time (93.3), behind Steve Young's 96.8; Peyton Manning's 95.3, Tony Romo's 94.5, and Phillip Rivers' 93.8. Brady was named as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, in 2005. He also helped set the record for the longest consecutive win streak in NFL history with 21 straight wins over two seasons.

In 2004 and 2007, Brady was named "Sportsman of the Year" by The Sporting News.He was also named the 2007 NFL MVP, as well as 2007 Male Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press, the first time an NFL player has been honored since Joe Montana won in 1990.

Brady holds numerous regular season and postseason records, including most touchdown passes in a regular season (50), highest single-game completion percentage, regular season or postseason (26/28, 92.9%), most completions in one Super Bowl, most completions in Super Bowl history (career), the highest winning percentage of any quarterback ever during his first 100 starts (76 wins), and the longest streak of games with 3 or more touchdown passes (10 games). Brady is the fourth-fastest player to reach 200 career passing touchdowns (116 games). He is the first quarterback in NFL history to have reached said mark with under 100 career interceptions (he had 88 interceptions).

Early years
Born near San Francisco in San Mateo, California to Tom Sr. and Galynn, Brady regularly attended 49ers games in the 1980s, where he became a fan of quarterback Joe Montana; since then, Brady has mentioned Montana as one of his inspirations and an idol. Brady graduated from Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California. Brady was also drafted as a catcher in the 18th round of the 1995 MLB Draft by the Montreal Expos.

College career
Brady played college football for, and graduated cum laude from, the University of Michigan. He was a backup his first two years, while teammate and future NFL quarterback Brian Griese led the Wolverines to a share of the national championship in 1997 in the Rose Bowl. When he enrolled at Michigan, Brady was seventh on the depth chart and had an intense struggle to get some playing time. At one point, Brady hired a sports psychologist to help him cope with frustration and anxiety and even considered transferring to Cal.Brady battled for the starting job with Drew Henson, ultimately starting every game in the 1998 and 1999 seasons under Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr. During his first full year as starter, he set Michigan records for most pass attempts and completions in a season (214).Brady was All-Big Ten (honorable mention) both seasons and team captain his senior year. The Wolverines won 20 of 25 games when he started and shared the Big Ten Conference title in 1998. Brady capped that season with a win over Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl.In the 1999 season, Brady led Michigan to an overtime win in the Orange Bowl over Alabama, throwing for 369 yards and four touchdowns.

Professional career

2000 season
Brady was selected with pick #199, a compensatory pick, in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. According to Michael Holley's book Patriot Reign, the Patriots were considering Brady and Tim Rattay, both of whom had received positive reviews from then-quarterbacks coach Dick Rehbein. Ultimately, the Patriots front office chose Brady. Ironically, even though the Patriots drafted a future superstar in the next to last round, the class of 2000 was a mediocre vintage for quarterbacks: aside from Brady, only Chad Pennington developed into a first-rate pro quarterback as well as Pro Bowler Marc Bulger.

The Patriots made the unusual decision to carry four quarterbacks (instead of three) on the roster. Brady started the season as the fourth string quarterback, behind starter Drew Bledsoe and backups John Friesz and Michael Bishop; by season's end, he was number two on the depth chart behind Bledsoe. During his rookie season, he was 1-of-3 passing, for six yards.

2001 season
Brady was thrust into the starter's role on September 23, 2001, during a Patriots home game against their AFC East rivals, the New York Jets. In that game, Bledsoe suffered internal bleeding after a collision with Jets linebacker Mo Lewis. During the following week, Brady was named the Patriots' starting quarterback. In his first two games, Brady posted unspectacular passer ratings of 79.6 and 58.7, respectively, in a 44–3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts (in their last season in the AFC East) and a 30–10 loss to the Miami Dolphins.Brady played much better during the rematch at Indianapolis, with a passer rating of 148.3 in a 38–17 win.The Patriots won 11 of the 14 games Brady started, entering the playoffs with a first-round bye. Brady finished with 2,843 passing yards and four more touchdowns than Peyton Manning, his rival, with an invitation to the Pro Bowl.

In Brady's first playoff game, against the Oakland Raiders, Brady threw for 312 yards, and led the Patriots back from a ten-point fourth-quarter deficit to send the game to overtime, where they won on an Adam Vinatieri field goal. A controversial play in that game came when, trailing by three in the fourth quarter, Brady lost control of the ball after being hit by fellow Wolverine Charles Woodson. Oakland initially recovered the ball, but, citing the "tuck rule," which states that any forward throwing motion by a quarterback begins a pass, referee Walt Coleman overturned the call on instant replay, ruling it an incomplete pass rather than a fumble.

In the AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Brady injured his knee, and was relieved by Bledsoe. The Patriots won the game and were immediately instituted by Las Vegas oddsmakers as 14-point underdogs against the NFC champion St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

The score was tied with 1:21 left in the Super Bowl and the Patriots were at their own 15 with no timeouts when sportscaster and Super Bowl-winning coach John Madden said he thought the Patriots should run out the clock and try to win the game in overtime. Instead, Brady drove the Patriots' offense down the field to the Rams 31 before spiking the ball with seven seconds left. The Patriots won the game on another Adam Vinatieri field goal as time expired. Brady was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXVI while throwing for 145 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions, becoming the then-youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl.