12 of QB’s top marks, entering Super Bowl 2021

The Super Bowl spotlight will shine on Tom Brady for the 10th time Feb. 7, just the latest accomplishment in his star-studded 21-year NFL career.

Obviously another championship will just be the latest crown jewel in his thickening Hall of Fame file. But don’t get it twisted: Brady is focused on the here and now, fully aware that nothing he’s done in the past will count for anything against the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs.

“Experience doesn’t matter,” Brady, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback, said Thursday. “Playing well matters. The team that wins is not going to be the most experienced team, it’s going to be the team that plays the best.

“We’ve got to prepare the best, we’ve got to execute the best (and) we’ve got to perform the best under pressure. If we do that, we’ll be champions.”

In his case, yet again.

With that, let’s look back at 12 of TB12’s most remarkable achievements:

As previously noted, Brady will be playing in his 10th Super Bowl but first for the Buccaneers. He’s now 19 years removed from his Super Sunday debut. It’s been 18 years since Tampa Bay won its only Lombardi Trophy. When Brady takes the field against the Chiefs, he will have appeared in half the Super Bowls over the past two decades. Context: No other player has appeared in more than six Super Bowls, and only one other quarterback (John Elway) has started five.

Brady’s first season in Tampa Bay will conclude with the Bucs becoming the first team to host a Super Bowl in their own stadium. Along the way, Brady became the first quarterback in club annals to win 11 regular-season games in one season. His 401 completions, 40 TD passes and 102.2 QB rating are all single-season team records. Context: We are talking Buccaneers history here … so let’s not pretend the bar was all that high.

Brady has won the regular-season award as NFL MVP three times (2007, 2010, 2017) – ironically, the Patriots failing to win the Super Bowl in any of those seasons and losing it at the end of the 2007 and 2017 campaigns. Context: Peyton Manning owns the record with five MVP awards. Aaron Rodgers is likely to join Brady and Brett Favre as the only players to win it three times during the Super Bowl era.

The best player on the NFL’s grandest stage? That’s been Brady four times – most recently the epic comeback he led against the Falcons in Super Bowl 51, the only time the game has gone into overtime. Context: Joe Montana was Super Bowl MVP three times. Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw and Eli Manning have been so honored twice. 

Brady has been selected to the NFL’s version of the all-star team 14 times … even though he rarely bothered to show up for the game – and recently wasn’t able given the Pro Bowl is now in direct conflict with teams preparing for the Super Bowl. Context: Brady is one of five players in NFL history with 14 Pro Bowl nods, his most recent coming in 2018 – so still a chance he breaks this mark, too. Peyton Manning is the only other quarterback on this very short list.

It’s been two years since Brady won his sixth and final ring with New England, giving him sole ownership of a sacred record – most Super Bowl wins by a player – he previously shared with Hall of Fame pass rusher Charles Haley. Context: A seventh championship will only further distinguish Brady from Hall of Fame QBs Bradshaw and Montana, who both won four Super Bowls – though their supporters will also note neither man ever lost on Super Sunday. The Brady truthers, meanwhile, are hoping TB12 breaks his championship tie with Michael Jordan.

Though he was already a three-time Super Bowl champion, ’07 was TB12’s coming-out party in certain respects. He became the first player to throw for 50 TDs, 23 going to WR Randy Moss – a receiving record that still stands. Prior to that outburst, Brady, named MVP for the first time in 2007, had never thrown more than 28 TD passes. The Patriots became the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season, but they were ultimately upset by the Giants in Super Bowl 42. Context: Peyton Manning threw 55 TDs in 2013, but it remains the only time Brady’s mark has been surpassed. No other team has managed to go 16-0 since the regular season expanded in 1978.

Impressive as Brady’s Super Bowl accomplishments are, they overshadow a championship game résumé that’s nearly as impressive. He’s started in 14 conference title games on his way to those 10 Super Sundays. Context: Montana’s seven championship game starts are half as many as Brady but rank second all time.

Brady is the only on-field common denominator for the New England juggernaut that spanned nearly two decades. He was essentially part of two mini-dynasties, the Patriots winning their first three titles between 2001 and 2004 and their next three between 2014 and 2018. His accomplishments were always tied with head coach Bill Belichick, Brady seemingly the only part that wasn’t interchangeable for a franchise that became known for its ruthless approach to winning. Context: The Patriots’ string of success is unparalleled in NFL history, even more of an outlier in the age of a salary cap designed to keep every club on an even playing field. However a win in Super Bowl 55 will create a stark line of demarcation between Brady and Belichick.

Whenever Brady retires, he’s going to own a boatload of standards, some likely to loom as insurmountable. His 581 regular-season TD passes are the most ever. He needs 1,155 yards to surpass Drew Brees (80,358) for first place. But Brady’s playoff marks are way out there – 1,085 completions on 1,735 attempts for 12,248 yards and 80 TDs – and his Super Bowl records more so (256 completions, 392 passes, 2,838 yards and 18 TDs). Brady also owns the top two passing games in Super Bowl history with 505 yards in Super Bowl 52 and 466 the previous year. Context: Kurt Warner (414) is the only other passer to throw for more than 400 yards in a Super Bowl, and his 1,156 Super Sunday yards rank second. Montana is next on the Super Bowl career TD list with 11 and in the playoffs overall with 45. Peyton Manning is No. 2 in playoff passing yards with 7,339.

Brady has 230 regular-season wins and 33 more in the playoffs. Context: Favre and Peyton Manning are tied for second with 186 regular-season victories. In postseason, Montana ranks second (16), followed by Bradshaw, Elway and Manning with 14 apiece.

Brady is married to a supermodel, has three healthy kids, lives in a mansion – mansions – is a global icon and has earned more than $263 million, according to Spotrac. He’s pretty much wrested the “G.O.A.T.” moniker that rose to prominence with Jerry Rice. Brady won. Context: None.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis

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Published
4:30 pm UTC Jan. 31, 2021
Updated
8:00 pm UTC Jan. 31, 2021