Tom Brady’s first goodbye to the New England Patriots came via a tweet on March 17, 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within hours of his social media farewell to New England, Brady had agreed to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, Brady’s goodbye was hardly a surprise—the entire 2019 season felt like a drawn-out goodbye, from Brady’s declaration that he was the most miserable 8-0 quarterback on the planet to his one-and-done appearance in the playoffs to countless stories about how the Bill Belichick–Brady relationship was beyond repair.
Still, it was a miserable day. It didn’t seem real to me, a lifelong Patriots fan. Brady was supposed to be our quarterback forever. Now, three and a half years later, Brady (seemingly) has retired for good, and he finally gets to say goodbye to New England for real before Sunday’s game against the Eagles. In honor of a long-overdue farewell, let’s count down Brady’s 12 greatest moments with the Patriots:
12. 2000 NFL Draft: Pick No. 199
Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but Brady was selected with pick no. 199 in the 2000 draft. (ESPN’s Year of the Quarterback did a whole episode about the six quarterbacks drafted before him.) Though Brock Purdy may be on the cusp of taking over the late-round quarterback mantle, Brady’s draft slot is one of those fun facts that is no longer fun because at least 199 people have all told you the same fact. And yet it is a moment that has become more iconic as time has gone on. It changed the course of Patriots history and NFL history, and while, yes, he probably should have been drafted a little bit higher than the sixth round (though his infamous NFL combine photo probably dropped him down the board a couple of rounds), being no. 199 shaped Brady’s legacy.
11. 2017 Week 3, Texans at Patriots: This Touchdown Pass to Brandin Cooks
This was Brady at his most clutch. He was pretty amazing on this random September afternoon—five touchdown passes, 378 yards, a completion percentage of 71—but that’s not why this game makes the list. It’s because of the belief Brady instilled in the Patriots and all of us watching at home. The Texans were in the game the whole time, and the Patriots went a little cold in the fourth quarter. Down five with 2:24 to go, Brady marched the Patriots down the field and threw a perfect touchdown to Cooks to put an exclamation point on a masterful drive. It wasn’t Brady’s greatest game-winning drive (we’ll get there, I promise) or even his best throw, but it was the start of Brady’s last great statistical season in New England.
10. 2009 Week 6, Titans at Patriots: 59-0
This might be the most random game on this list. A freak snowstorm in October should have created a low-scoring game. Nope. Instead, Brady threw five touchdown passes in the second quarter alone. In his first year back from an ACL tear, this was the game that alleviated a lot of fear that he would never be the same quarterback (lol in retrospect). Randy Moss caught three touchdowns. Some rookie college quarterback turned receiver named Julian Edelman (!) had six catches.
9. 2013 Week 6, Saints at Patriots: This Touchdown Pass to Kenbrell Thompkins
Unicorns. Show ponies. Where’s the beef? All New England fans know the iconic radio call from Scott Zolak on one of the most memorable throws from the Brady era. The 2013 season was a time of transition for the Patriots. Wes Welker left in the offseason. Aaron Hernandez was arrested that summer. Rob Gronkowski missed the beginning of the season with an injury. Brady wasn’t great for most of this game while throwing to Thompkins, Aaron Dobson, and Austin Collie. Sure, Edelman and Danny Amendola were also there, but there wasn’t a lot to work with. Brady’s only touchdown pass was the game-winning score to Thompkins with five seconds left. But it was just enough, and it propelled the Patriots to a solid 12-4 record and an AFC championship game.
8. Shields MRI Ad: Sticking It to Roger Goodell
There were a lot of options for the best Brady commercial. The ads from his Tampa days were probably better, but this Shields MRI promo is iconic simply because they filmed two versions, one for his four rings and then one right after Super Bowl LI, when he got his fifth ring. That Super Bowl capped a season that began with Brady’s Deflategate suspension. Despite missing the first four games, Brady had an MVP-caliber season and outdueled MVP Matt Ryan in one of the most historic Super Bowls of all time. Brady’s “Roger that” in the second version of the Shields ad seemed to be a direct dig at commissioner Goodell.
7. Super Bowl LI Opening Night: “My Dad Is My Hero”
In the true Patriot Way, Brady was usually pretty vanilla in his Patriots days behind the mic. He never said much and mostly stuck to boilerplate answers. So the moments when he did choose to open up were special. That was certainly the case at the media extravaganza that was opening night before Super Bowl LI. Asked who his hero was, Brady said it was his dad before pausing and choking up. Brady’s mom, Galynn, was going through cancer treatments during the 2016 season, and it was clear how much her illness had impacted him. (Brady later revealed it was one of the first seasons his parents weren’t at the majority of his games.)
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6. 2014 AFC Divisional Round, Ravens at Patriots: The Comeback x2
People forget, but Joe Flacco and the Ravens used to be a pretty big problem for the Patriots, particularly in the playoffs. The wild-card game in January 2010 was a disaster from the first snap. The AFC championship game in January 2012 should have gone to overtime, but Billy Cundiff’s last kick as a Raven went wide left. The Ravens got their revenge a year later, beating New England in the AFC title game on the way to winning the Super Bowl. Brady struggled in each of those games against the Ravens’ Ray Lewis–led defenses, throwing seven interceptions and completing less than 57 percent of his passes.
Fast-forward two years, and Brady played one of his best postseason games in the divisional round against one of the Patriots’ biggest postseason rivals. The Ravens had two 14-point leads that were erased by Brady and Co. The Patriots’ first touchdown was on the ground from Brady himself. Edelman threw a touchdown to Amendola to tie the game at 28. Brandon LaFell caught the game-winning touchdown. Duron Harmon had the game-sealing pick. Three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and 367 yards from Brady proved to be just enough for the Patriots to overcome the Ravens and advance to the AFC championship game.
5. 2001 AFC Divisional Round, Raiders at Patriots: The Tuck Rule
Any Brady list would be incomplete without the Tuck Rule Game. No matter how you view the actual call itself (Brady himself has admitted it might have been a fumble), that play and this game are critical parts of Brady’s Patriots legacy. This game was Brady’s first playoff start—and in a heavy snowstorm, he managed to throw for 312 yards. As was the case for much of the 2001 season, he was efficient, he protected the ball, and he didn’t make any mistakes that would cost his team. For legions of Patriots fans, it was the first sign that Brady was Him.
4. 2018 AFC Championship Game, Patriots at Chiefs: Holding Off Patrick Mahomes
Every time I look back on this game, I become more amazed that it actually happened. The Patriots had no business winning this one. Mahomes will probably take Brady’s GOAT title when all is said and done. But on this day, Brady held Mahomes off for one more year. The Patriots took a 14-0 lead by halftime, and Kansas City didn’t get its first lead until midway through the fourth quarter. The teams combined to score 24 points in the final three minutes and 35 seconds of regulation before the game went into what turned out to be a bonkers overtime period.
The Patriots (famously) won the toss, and the Chiefs defense did all it could to get the ball back to Mahomes, forcing the Pats into a third-and-10 three times in a row. Each time, Brady converted (with a laser pointer in his face!). It was his last epic playoff performance in a Patriots uniform, and it came in Kansas City against the NFL’s hot, new, young quarterback. If not for Brady’s heroics on that day, Mahomes would likely have three Super Bowl rings already.
3. Super Bowl XLIX: The Elusive Fourth Ring
It’s hard for non-Patriots fans to sympathize with this plight, but there was a nine-year period in the Brady era in which the Patriots did not win a Super Bowl. I know, it must have been so hard to go through most of a decade without a Super Bowl parade. We managed to survive, but there was a time in the late 2000s and early 2010s when it kind of felt like Brady wouldn’t win again. The two Giants Super Bowl losses felt like big, dark clouds that lingered for a long time. Maybe Brady couldn’t get it done without that big-time defense he had at the beginning of his career.
It’s wild to think about in retrospect, but it was definitely a sentiment that existed. Trent Dilfer, then an analyst for ESPN, said after the Chiefs Week 4 game that year, “They’re not good anymore.” Even Belichick referenced Brady’s age as his reasoning for taking Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round of the 2014 draft.
Over in the NFC, meanwhile, the Seahawks seemed poised to become the NFL’s next dynasty. They destroyed Peyton Manning and the Broncos one year before in Super Bowl XLVIII. The Legion of Boom defensive backs were in their prime. Russell Wilson was an ascending star quarterback. Marshawn Lynch was one of the best running backs in the league.
All of this served as the backdrop for Super Bowl XLIX. Against one of the best secondaries of all time, Brady threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns, two of which came in the fourth quarter and helped turn a 10-point deficit into a four-point lead in the game’s final minutes.
But there was just enough time for the Seahawks to make one last drive. Jermaine Kearse made an astounding catch. For Brady and Patriots fans, this was Super Bowl XLII and XLVI all over again. We were all reliving the nightmares of the Tyree catch and the Manningham catch and pictured another Super Bowl slipping away.
Of course, one head-scratching Wilson throw and a Malcolm Butler heroic interception later, Brady got his fourth ring and celebrated so hard he forgot Jimmy G even existed.
2. Super Bowl XXXVI: First Super Bowl Win
As wild as the Tuck Rule Game was, no one expected the Patriots to beat the Rams and the Greatest Show on Turf in Super Bowl XXXVI. It felt like an uneven matchup, and for many reasons, it should have been a pretty uneventful Super Bowl.
But it wasn’t. Brady didn’t light up the scoreboard, but he didn’t need to. He just needed to protect the ball and make a handful of safe throws to keep it even. And he did just that—until the last drive of the game.
Instead of playing it safe and settling for overtime, Brady and the Patriots got aggressive. He went 5-for-8, he got the team into field goal range, and the Pats let Adam Vinatieri do his thing. Even if Brady never went on to win another game for the Patriots, that game made him a hero in New England.
1. Super Bowl LI: From 28-3 to GOAT
When did Tom Brady ACTUALLY become the quarterback GOAT? Was it after his third Super Bowl in four years early in his career? Was it after the ’07 season, when he threw 50 touchdown passes and was a David Tyree helmet catch away from a perfect season? Was it after Super Bowl XLIX vs. the Legion of Boom? You could make a case for all of them.
But the right answer is Super Bowl LI. Brady’s legendary comeback against the Falcons cemented him as the greatest ever. Until then, no quarterback had ever won five Super Bowls. No team had ever come back from a 25-point deficit in the Super Bowl. There had never been an overtime in the Super Bowl, let alone a team that rallied from so far behind to win in overtime. All of those things had to happen for Brady to get that fifth ring.
Part of the lore of that game is how much Brady and the Pats sucked in the first half. His pick-six should have ended it. But Brady fought. And the Patriots fought. (And the Falcons wilted.) New England needed everything to go right to pull off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. It took the most ridiculous catch of Edelman’s career. The defense shut down Kyle Shanahan’s potent offense (and feasted on Atlanta’s mistakes). The comeback was unbelievable, but it also felt inevitable: Brady simply made his teammates, and us, believe anything was possible. Overtime was merely a formality—nothing was stopping Brady from becoming the unquestioned GOAT that night in Houston.
