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How Tom Brady's GOAT legend started in the state of Michigan — and lasted 2 decades
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- How Tom Brady's GOAT legend started in the state of Michigan — and lasted 2 decades
Editor's note: This story was originally published the first time Tom Brady announced his retirement, back in 2022, which coincidentally also was Feb. 1. Exactly a year later, Brady says he's hanging up his cleats "for good." Here's a look back at his greatest performances for Michigan and vs. the Detroit Lions .
Quarterback Tom Brady — a seven-time Super Bowl champion, 15-time Pro Bowler and three-time NFL MVP (in case you're just hearing of him) — officially retired from pro football Tuesday morning , after a weekend of nationwide confusion over whether he was actually retiring .
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After 22 NFL seasons (and a few extra days of offseason), his case as the NFL's GOAT (Greatest Of All Time, that is) is solidified, and we can finally look back on his career in the pros in its entirety … and his time in college.
Before he was the GOAT with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers , he was a kid — literally and also as a baby GOAT –— in Ann Arbor, with two seasons as the starting quarterback at Michigan.
As a Michigan Man, Brady worked his way into Michigan's passing record books despite splitting time with Drew Henson during his final season. More than two decades after Brady left Ann Arbor as a sixth-round NFL draft pick (No. 199 overall), he's still 10th at Michigan in career touchdown passes (35), ninth in career passing yards (5,351) and tied for fourth in career 200-yard games (15).
In the NFL, he dominated the Detroit Lions — then again, who doesn't? — in seven appearances. He posted a 5-2 record (with one of the losses coming in his NFL debut , in which he attempted three passes as a backup in garbage time) with a 104 passer rating. His numbers are even better when taking on the Lions in Michigan: 67.3% completion percentage, 1,032 yards, nine TDs and two interceptions for a 115.6 passer rating.
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With that in mind, here's a quick look at Brady's best games in the state of Michigan (with our apologies to those with warm memories of beatdowns of Arkansas and Alabama in the Citrus Bowl and Orange Bowl, respectively).
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Oct. 9, 1999: Michigan State 34, U-M 31
Brady wasn't the best player on the field in East Lansing as Nick Saban's squad dominated the rivalry to improve to No. 5 in the nation the following Monday — that was MSU wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who hauled in 10 catches for 255 yards and a touchdown. (MSU QB Bill Burke was the beneficiary of Burress' big day, as he became the first Spartans QB to top 400 yards passing.) But Brady, who started then sat for two quarters as sophomore Drew Henson struggled, made it close in the end. He led Michigan to two scores in the final 8:11, completing all 15 pass attempts during the two drives.
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Brady finished 30-for-41 for 285 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Had Burress not recovered the onside kick after U-M got within three points, Brady might have picked up his second career 300-yard game. (His first? Against Ohio State in a 31-16 loss in Columbus, where he threw 56 times — still a U-M record — and completed 31 for 375 yards.)
Oct. 23, 1999: Illinois 35, U-M 29
Instead, his second 300-yard game came two weeks later in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines lost after being 24½-point favorites — seems familiar — but it was hardly Brady's fault, even with two interceptions. He led U-M to a 27-7 lead in the third before the Wolverines' defense allowed 28 straight points. Both interceptions came in the fourth quarter as the Wolverines attempted to regain the lead. The first came on a fourth-and-30 pass, which followed a snap well over Brady's head from Illinois' 28-yard line on second-and-5.
After an Illinois TD made it an eight-point game, Brady drove the Wolverines 64 yards to Illinois' 18. Three plays later, however, U-M's hopes of overtime were dashed when Brady threw an interception in the end zone with nine seconds left. The Illinois defender who made the pick fumbled and Michigan recovered for a safety, but the two points still left the Wolverines six points shy of an extra period. Brady finished with 307 yards on 23-for-38 passing, and threw two touchdowns in the first half.
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Nov. 6, 1999: Michigan 37, Northwestern 3
You didn't think these would all be losses, did you? After a brutal October, the Wolverines righted themselves in November, starting with Brady.
He attempted just 23 passes (and completed 12) before he was pulled with 13 minutes left in the third quarter and the Wolverines having scored five TDs for a 34-0 lead. Three of those TDs belonged to Brady as he hit David Terrell for a 26-yard score late in the first quarter, Marcus Knight (on a diving play in the end zone) for a 45-yard score early in the second and, finally, Bennie Joppru on an 11-yarder not even two minutes into the second half.
Brady finished with 185 yards passing, thanks to not needing to lead a frantic fourth-quarter drive for the first time in a month. "I just approached the game the same way if I'm in for just a play, a series or the whole game," Brady said afterward. "I just try to do my best."
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Nov. 25, 2010: Patriots 45, Lions 24
Tom Brady smiles on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Lions, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010, in Detroit. New England won 45-24.
A little over 11 years later, Brady was potentially entering the downside of his NFL career. He had three Super Bowl rings, but none since 2004. A torn ACL and MCL suffered in the first game of 2008 cost him the rest of that season. He made the Pro Bowl and won Comeback Player of the Year in 2009, but New England went just 10-6 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Entering the "homecoming" game against the Lions on Thanksgiving, Brady had cracked 300 yards in a game once during the 2010 season.
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But the Lions, as they so often do on Thanksgiving, served up a feast, even after taking a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter. From there, it was all Brady. After going 10-for-13 for 110 yards in the first half, with no TD passes, Brady completed 11 of 14 attempts for 231 yards and four TDs. "I think once the speed of the game calmed down a little bit and we could get it under control, we did a great job," Brady said afterward. All together, he put up a perfect 158.3 passer rating — just the third quarterback with at least 20 pass attempts to do so against the Lions.
[ Tom Brady's NFL debut came vs. the Lions: Why wasn't he wearing Honolulu Blue & Silver? ]
Dec. 26, 2020: Buccaneers 47, Lions 7
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) and wide receiver Chris Godwin (14) celebrate a touchdown against the Detroit Lions during the first half Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020 at Ford Field.
A little over 10 years after that game, Brady didn't wait nearly as long to hit perfection. He threw incomplete on the first play from scrimmage, then completed his next nine attempts for 179 yards and two touchdowns. After his second incompletion, Brady ticked off another seven straight passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. After the Lions held the ball for 92 seconds, it was Brady's turn again; on this drive — his final of the game — he ONLY went 6-for-9 for 76 yards and another touchdown to make it 34-0 Bucs. His final stats: 27 attempts, five incompletions, four touchdowns, 348 yards and another perfect 158.3 passer rating — in one half.
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Just three other quarterbacks since 1950 have reached the NFL's definition of perfection at least twice: Peyton Manning (4), Ben Roethlisberger (4) and Kurt Warner (3). And then there's Brady, who did it twice against the same franchise . (He also did it against the Miami Dolphins in 2007.) Of course, he was nonchalant after his "atomic" (as the headline read in the Freep the next day) performance: "I never want to let (my teammates) down," Brady said. "It's been that way for about 21 years of my career."
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @theford .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tom Brady retires: How the GOAT legend started in Michigan
