Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers side are preparing for yet another NFL season but this could be the star quarterback’s last after he signed a one-year $15 million extension to remain at Tampa Bay until 2024. The Buccaneers are one of the key favorites going into the season and Brady will hope to once more inspire a team to Super Bowl glory as he seeks his eighth ring, and his 2nd already for Tampa Bay despite only joining two years ago.
Brady has been to 10 Super Bowl finals in total which is a record he comfortably holds meaning he has more experience at the peak of the sport than any other player, and there is a fair argument to suggest he is the greatest player to ever grace an American Football field.
Brady has been named the game’s most valuable player an impressive three times and has not experienced a significant fall-off in ability as he has aged it almost seems like Brady has always been a part of the sport as it is difficult to even for older generations to recall a time he was not involved yet. The legend of the game will remain the star man at Tampa Bay at the ripe age of 45 and will be crucial in not only winning games this season but making games comfortable with the abundance of touchdown opportunities he creates meaning the Buccaneers are likely to often win by a significant point margin.
The Buccaneers are offered at bodog.eu -110 to win by a margin of two points or more in their season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. Brady began his NFL career with the New England Patriots and came with little expectation as the 199th pick in the draft of 2000.
An interesting stat is that Brady was the seventh quarterback to be selected by a team in the draft and now he is widely acknowledged as the greatest quarterback, possibly even the best player, in general, to ever play the sport. Looking back at the beginning of his Patriots career Brady found his breakthrough in 2001 when star quarterback Drew Bledsoe picked up an injury, Brady was very consistent in his place and from then onwards he never looked back.
Brady’s debut came against Indianapolis Colts in a 44-13 thrashing in which he was not spectacular and did not showcase much of his exceptional passing ability he is known for in the present day, but he was competent, did not make any errors, and did not stand out as an inexperienced player.
Brady won his first Super Bowl ring in just his third year with the Patriots, he inspired the New England team that were huge underdogs against Los Angeles Rams and it was his individual play to progress the ball up the field late on setting up a 48-yard field goal, which meant the Patriots scored a touchdown to go ahead just before the timer finished.
Brady’s breakthrough success was solidified when previous nailed-on starter Bledsoe was forced out of favor and traded to the Buffalo Bills in 2002. The Patriots legend again carried his side to the NFL Playoffs in 2003 with a 14-2 record to earn the number one seed in the American Football Conference.
Brady’s side progressed all of the ways to the Super Bowl once again where they would face the Carolina Panthers. Brady was influential once more as he created the winning touchdown just like he did in 2002 and he provided for the same receiver that scored on the previous occasion, Adam Vinatieri.
In 2004 Brady continued to lead an almost impeccable Patriots side as they again had a 14-2 record in the AFC and were the number one seed. In the Super Bowl of early 2025, the Patriots had made it again and would emerge victorious again in another extremely close game, but Brady was an astounding leader who knew exactly how to guide his team to win.
Philadelphia Eagles were the victims of a professional Patriots display on that occasion and Brady and his side were quickly building a dynasty and would go down as one of the greatest teams ever in the sport.
In 2007, the Patriots would record an even more impressive regular season of 16-0, which created a new record, and Brady individually was also hugely impressive boasting a 50:8 touchdown to interception ratio, demonstrating the heights of his offensive ability.
The Patriots would not find themselves at the peak of the NFL universe until 2015 when they reached another Super Bowl where they faced Seattle Seahawks. This presented one of the toughest challenges yet for Brady as his team found themselves 24-14 behind in the fourth quarter. But once again, Brady turned up. He provided two vital touchdown passes and the Patriots would go ahead at the death of the tie.
Brady would win his final ring with the Patriots in 2019 again being the star man as they made the Super Bowl LIII. The quarterback would face the Rams once again in the Super Bowl in a low scoring 13-3 win, which was the final peak of Brady’s time with the Patriots despite the two-year extension that followed, as New England suffered playoff disappointment, bowing out early in 2019.
Brady left the Patriots for the Buccaneers in 2020 and would have an instant impact as they qualified for the playoffs and eventually made the Super Bowl.
The legendary quarterback delivered only the second ever Super Bowl ring to Tampa Bay, dispatching the Kansas City Chiefs emphatically 31-9. Brady announced his retirement after the Super Bowl victory in 2024 but would later have a change of heart and he has now committed to one final season on Tampa Bay.
The 45-year-old has one final shot of glory to extend his record of seven Super Bowl rings even further, he does not have a legacy that requires cementing whatsoever but perhaps his mentality meant he missed the feeling of winning too much, but can he achieve that feeling once again?
