On Sunday, Tom Brady’s patented play-action pump fake at the goal line resulted in the 400th passing touchdown of his career, becoming just the fourth player in NFL history to tally as many. Brady joins the elite company of Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Dan Marino as the only players to eclipse the milestone. The seemingly ageless 38-year-old looks as good as ever during his 16th NFL season under center in New England.
Brady had the worst statistical game of his season in the 51-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, despite throwing for 358 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The three-time Super Bowl MVP is off to the best three-game start in his career with 1,112 yards, nine touchdowns, a 72.2 percent completion rate and no interceptions.
With an early bye for the Patriots this past week, the importance of those first three games for Brady’s legacy following Deflategate were paramount. Just over four weeks removed from his exoneration, Brady’s connection to the incident has nearly dissipated.
Can you imagine how different the narrative would be right now for Brady and the Patriots if their franchise quarterback struggled in the first three weeks? The local and national media would be all over him, demanding an admitted correlation between poor play and inflated footballs. New England fans would still support their UGG boot model, but the national perception would be starkly different.
Nearly one year ago, the Patriots were embarrassed on national television at Arrowhead Stadium in a 41-14 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs. Following the game, Brady doubters had signaled the end to his remarkable career, most notably former quarterbacks and current ESPN analysts Steve Young and Trent Dilfer.
The two former Super Bowl winners questioned Brady’s longevity, saying he was on a steep decline with inept offensive weapons around him. After the 27-point defeat by the Chiefs, though, Brady and the Patriots went on to win 13 of their next 15 games including their magical Super Bowl victory.
Directly following the Patriots’ Super Bowl XLIX victory, the Brady doubters emerged again, accusing him of direct involvement in the Deflategate saga that lasted the entire offseason. In classic Brady fashion, he relentlessly fought the four-game suspension and ultimately received exoneration. Since then, the sure-to-be Hall of Famer has been flawless.
The point amid all of this is that when Brady’s back is up against the wall, he will play with a vengeance to rewrite the script. If you exclude the meaningless game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 17 last season when Brady only saw limited action, Brady and the Patriots are 16-1 since the Chiefs blowout.
In an interview with WEEI earlier this season, Brady talked about what statistic means the most to him after wins.
“The thing that probably means the most is probably consecutive starts,” Brady told the Dennis & Callahan Show. “That’s something that’s a reflection of the commitment that you make. … You’re no help to your team if you’re on the sideline.”
Brady has said multiple times he wants to play until he is 50 years old. Although this feat is nearly impossible to even wrap one’s head around, Brady is on pace to play well into his forties and will most likely rival Brett Favre’s late-career play. If the last calendar year is any indication, Brady will not only go down as the best quarterback of all time, but also the quarterback with the longest career.
Brady, like a fine wine, seems to only improve with age. His precise ability to read defenses and thread balls into tight windows has only improved over the years. Even his arm strength and quickness in the pocket cease to decline.
In a Sports Illustrated feature on Brady this winter, we learned about his “calculated” schedule that maps out his sleep and eating schedule in addition to a brain exercise routine. Yes, Brady actually exercises his brain in an attempt to stay sharp and increase his ability to read defenses. He goes to bed at 9 p.m. every night and follows an alkaline diet that promotes eating vegetables, sprouted grains, almonds, tofu and lentils in order to avoid acidic foods, like vinegar.
Brady rarely lifts weights and instead he performs band-resistance exercises while working out on land, in the sand and in the water, to equally use all his muscles and avoid injury. This insane daily routine epitomizes his obsessive, competitive edge.
Over the years, Brady has played with great defenses and some notable offensive studs, including Troy Brown, Randy Moss and Rob Gronkowski. However, during his tenure with the Patriots, Brady has never had the luxury of having a work-horse running back behind him. The Pats have only had one rusher in the Brady-Belichick era crack the top-15 in rushing yards (Corey Dillon).
This speaks volumes to Brady’s ability to create almost all of the offense on his own. New England has always been a pass-happy offense and that might be one reason for the low rushing yards, but this also allows defenses to drop into creative zone coverage.
Although Brady is now the face of the NFL, he spent the beginning stages of his football career as the underdog — constantly proving people wrong as the backup quarterback at the University of Michigan, and then finally getting drafted 199th overall by the Patriots. His legacy did not start normally and I believe it won’t end normally.
Brady is as poised as ever to make another Super Bowl and MVP push, and if he does, he will cement his legacy as the greatest quarterback of all time. If this season is any indication, last Sunday’s milestone is just one of many he will reach before his Hall of Fame career ends.
