Detail - 2021

February 7, 2021 - Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the Super Bowl, giving Brady a record tying number of championships, seven, with Otto Graham.



When Thomas Edward Patrick Brady graduated from Junipero Serra High School in California, he was a touted recruit. Tall, but not particularly agile, he was recruited by other schools such as UCLA, Stanford, Washington, and Cal, plus USC and Illinois, but chose to sign with Michigan State on January 18, 1995. It was not an easy sell, not because Brady didn't have the tools, but recruiting prior to Youtube and signing publications meant the player had to do a bit of tooting and advertising as well. That's where the highlight reel of Brady's play was sent to Michigan coaches, the defensive line coach whose territory was California, then the quarterback coach, and head coach. Brady had other choices as well as a drafted baseball player, 18th round, by the Montreal Expos.

Once at the University of Michigan, Tom Brady took a back seat to the upper class quarterbacks on the roster, redshirting, then playing in only six games his freshman and sophomore seasons with twenty passes thrown as understudy to eventual NFL quarterback Brian Griese. Even as a junior and senior, Brady was not a full-time starter, competing with teammate Drew Henson into his senior year. Although both seasons were mostly efficient (high ten interceptions as a junior might belie that), his last five games had been great. Even with that, Tom Brady was not thought as something particularly special by National Football League scouts. And he still couldn't run; total career yards in college, negative one hundred and fifty. Time in the 2000 Draft Combine forty yard dash, a slumbering 5.28.

Due to his size and school pedigree, Brady did get drafted, but lasted until the 199th pick in the sixth round. Bill Belichick saw the intangibles; leading a team, accuracy, threw to the right man, and he would work. After that, he would back up New England starter Drew Bledsoe, his first year as fourth quarterback with one pass completion, until an injury to Bledsoe in his 2021 sophomore campaign, then go onto a Greatest of All-Time career. Bill was right.

First Super Bowl victory in 2001 (February 3, 2002) over the St. Louis Rams.
Second Super Bowl victory in 2003 (February 1, 2004) over the Carolina Panthers.
Third Super Bowl victory in 2004 (February 6, 2005) over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fourth Super Bowl victory in 2014 (February 1, 2015) over the Seattle Seahawks.
Fifth Super Bowl victory in 2016 (February 5, 2017) over the Atlanta Falcons.
Sixth Super Bowl victory in 2018 (February 3, 2019) over the Los Angeles Rams.

Tom Brady Wins Seventh Super Bowl

After the 2019 season, the team of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick had reached its conclusion. Brady would sign a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2020-21 season. Many thought this a fool's errand. Could Tampa Bay possibly provide the location for a final Super Bowl victory. Was it Brady or Belichick who had the most magic during his heydey with New England? Brady took the title for most people after passing for 4,633 yards his first season with forty touchdown passes and only twelve interceptions. He would march the Bucs through the playoffs past the New Orleans Saints, the Green Bay Packers and into another Super Bowl against Pat Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs under Andy Reid. It would be a masterful 31-9 victory; Brady passes 21 for 29, 201 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions.

SCORING
First Quarter - Kansas City, 49 yard field goal by Harrison Butker, Chiefs 3, Bucs 0.
First Quarter - Tampa Bay, 8 yard pass from Tom Brady to Rob Gonkowski, Ryan Succop Extra Point, Bucs 7, Chiefs 3.
Second Quarter - Tampa Bay, 17 yards pass from Tom Brady to Rob Gonkowski, Ryan Succop Extra Point, Bucs 14, Chiefs 3.
Second Quarter - Kansas City, 34 yard field goal by Harrison Butker, Bucs 14, Chiefs 6.
Second Quarter - Tampa Bay, 1 yard pass from Tom Brady to Antonio Brown, Ryan Succop Extra Point, Bucs 21, Chiefs 6.
Third Quarter - Kansas City, 52 yard field goal by Harrison Butker, Bucs 21, Chiefs 9.
Third Quarter - Tampa Bay, 27 yard run by Leonard Fournette, Ryan Succop Extra Point, Bucs 28, Chiefs 9.
Third Quarter - Tampa Bay, 52 yard field goal by Ryan Succop, Bucs 31, Chiefs 9.

QUOTES
Tom Brady - "I'm so proud of these guys out here. We had a rough month of November ... we came together at the right time. I think we knew this was gonna happen tonight, didn't we? ... This team is world champions forever, you can't take it away from us."

Tom Brady, Induction into Patriot's Hall of Fame - "To Coach Belichick, thank you for your tireless commitment to develop and push me to be my very best. It wasn't me, it wasn't you, it was us. Our hard work, our love of the game, and the way we worked for one another, that's what it was all about. Let me make this crystal clear: There is no coach in the world I would rather play for than Bill Belichick."

Regular season records attributed to Tom Brady include most passing touchdowns, 649, and total passing yards, 89,214. He was named Most Valuable Player three times and won two hundred and fifty-one regular season games and thirty-five playoff games.

Otto Graham

In 1946, Paul Brown organized the Cleveland Browns, a pro football team that would play in the All-America Football Conference. Otto Graham, of Northwestern University, had gone to school to play basketball, but was viewed on a sandlot playing intra-mural football as a freshman. He would go on to play tailback, place third in the Heisman Trophy, and Brown thought would make a good quarterback. He was right. In his first four years playing for Cleveland in the AAFC, they won fifty-two games and four championships. Once the Browns joined the National Football League, it was thought the team would suffer due to the assumed greater competition. Otto Graham would lead the Browns to three championships in the NFL, making the championship games in both leagues every year of his ten year career.

Otto Graham would throw for 23,584 yards and 174 touchdowns. He would rush for 882 yards and score 44 touchdowns. Graham was 6'1" and weighed 196 pounds. He would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

QUOTES
Otto Graham - "Pro football is no game for weaklings - everyone knows that. The men are rugged, they play hard, but they play clean. When men get into big time football, they're good enough not to have to play dirty. We love the game and we believe football competition, as well as all sports competition, makes high types of men."

Otto Graham, HOF Induction - "Thank you, Paul (Brown). I'll be very brief. I've had many honors in my day, but I have to admit, this has to be the tops of all of them. I want to thank the Football Hall of Fame, for the wonderful hospitality they have shown to all of us. I honestly don't think I belong here, but I'll be darn if I'll give this bust back. The greatest honor though for me personally, is having Paul Brown come back to give this award to me. In my opinion he's the greatest football coach ever, and one of my very dearest friends. Thank you very much."

Photo above: Tom Brady as quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2021, All Pro Reels. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons C.C. 2.0. Photo below: Montage (left) Cleveland Browns 1954 Souvenir Guide, 1954, Cleveland Browns Football Club; (center) Otto Graham Football Card, 1954, Bowman Gum; (right) Cleveland Browns 1954 Souvenir Guide, 1954, Cleveland Browns Football Club; All courtesy Wikipedia Commons. Info source: "How Michigan and Tom Brady Recruited Each Other," 2018, Andy Staples, si.com; pro=football-reference.com; "Fringe Starter to All-Time Great," 2024, collegefootballnetwork.com; "Tom Brady's Career Timeline," 2023. Edward Sutelan, The Sporting News; "Super Bowl Play by Play," 2021, San Diego Union-Tribune; people.com; profootballhalf.com; yahoosports, 2024; Wikipedia Commons.

• Back To 2010s
• Back to Index

History Photo Bomb

President Joe Biden, 2021, Adam Schultz. Courtesy Executive Office, Official Portrait, via Wikipedia Commons.

Official Souvenirs
America's Best History

Buy Chronology

Timeline History

Want a copy of the Timeline. Now available in easy to search digital format for your Kindle, Nook, or pdf format. Also comes in paperback, too.