Whether you love him or hate him (because he kept beating your favorite team), nobody can deny that Tom Brady had one heck of a career. After 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl rings, he is unquestionably the greatest football player of all time. It would be impossible to try to sum up his career into just a handful of moments, but we wanted to try. Out of all of the memorable and iconic moments in Brady’s career, we narrowed it down to the five best moments.
Capping Off the Dynasty
The Patriots beat the Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX, giving New England three Super Bowl wins in four seasons. Four seasons, that’s all it took for Brady to go from a no-name backup who was taken 199th overall in the draft to the leader of one of the great dynasties in NFL history.
At that point, Brady was still a few seasons away from his first MVP award. But it’s hard to argue with the feeling of winning back-to-back Super Bowls, three in four years, and being Super Bowl MVP in two of those three wins.
Super Bowl LV with Buccaneers
Tip of the cap to Kansas City’s atrocious offensive line in this game, but it was Brady’s fifth time winning Super Bowl MVP honors. In a way, it had to be the most satisfying for him. There were surely some skeptics after Brady left New England and didn’t have Bill Belichick and the “Patriot Way” helping him.
The Bucs were also a Wild Card team that had to win three road playoff games just to get to the Super Bowl, which was played in Tampa. But Brady did it, and he did it with the Patriots, at age 43 to boot.
Not Yet, Young Man
In a way, Brady’s win over Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship Game two years before beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl was the more satisfying moment. At the time, Mahomes was clearly ascending to the thrown and planning to throw Brady off. The two also put on an incredible show in the fourth quarter of that game, as the two teams combined for 38 points in the final 15 minutes.
But New England won the coin toss in overtime, allowing Brady to show Mahomes that he was still the king. Brady led the Patriots right down the field for the game-winning touchdown before Mahomes could get a chance.
The First Ring
There are few things better than the first time, especially for Brady. Keep in mind, he was just filling in for the injured Drew Bledsoe but played well enough to remain the starter in the Super Bowl even though Bledsoe came into the AFC Championship Game when Brady got hurt.
The Patriots were also 14-point underdogs against “The Greatest Show on Turf.” Brady only threw for 145 yards and one touchdown but won MVP honors in what was one of the great underdog stories in Super Bowl history at the time.
Super Bowl LI Comeback
There’s no doubt that the second half of this game was Brady’s finest hour. Keep in mind, he was suspended for the first four games of the season due to “Deflategate.” It looked like Brady and company were getting their just desserts when they trailed 28-3.
But we know that Brady led the greatest comebacks in Super Bowl history in what was arguably the most impressive performance and greatest moment of his career.