Tom Brady will play in his 10th Super Bowl in just a few days, a feat that seemed impossible before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback entered the NFL in 2000. When Brady was a rookie, John Elway set the standard for Super Bowl appearances by a starting quarterback with five (went 2-3 in those games). Reaching five Super Bowls was the gold standard, which Brady hit at the age of 34 (Elway was 38 when he played in his fifth Super Bowl).
Brady has made five Super Bowls since turning 37, as many as Elway reached in his career. That just demonstrates the impressive feat Brady has accomplished in his career -- a quarterback who has made the Super Bowl in 10 of his 21 seasons (47.6% of the time). If the 2008 season is counted out (the year Brady tore his ACL in Week 1 of the season), Brady has made the Super Bowl 50% of his career.
Brady's Super Bowl resume is unmatched in NFL history, which we'll take a look at in this week's "By The Numbers." We'll also look at Brady's numbers compared to the all-time greats in the 88-year history of NFL championship games, which date back to 1933.
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Most Super Bowl starts (quarterback)
- Tom Brady (Patriots/Buccaneers) -- 10
- John Elway (Broncos) -- 5
- Joe Montana (49ers) -- 4
- Peyton Manning (Colts/Broncos) -- 4
- Terry Bradshaw (Steelers) -- 4
- Jim Kelly (Bills) -- 4
- Roger Staubach (Cowboys) -- 4
Brady is going to be the first quarterback to start a Super Bowl in three different decades (2000s, 2010s, 2020s) and just the third quarterback ever to start a championship game in three different decades (Norm Van Brocklin and Johnny Unitas are the others).
What has made Brady's resume even more incredible is his success after turning 37 years old. Brady will be starting his fifth Super Bowl since turning 37 (he's 3-1 in his previous four starts), which is more starts than all but one quarterback has throughout his entire career in NFL history (Elway). Brady has started three Super Bowls since turning 40, one more than Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees combined to play in their entire careers.
Brady joins Peyton Manning, Craig Morton and Kurt Warner as the only quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl for two different teams. Manning is the only quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl for two different teams (Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos) and Morton is the only other quarterback to start a Super Bowl for a different team in each conference (Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos).
Since Brady has double the amount of Super Bowl starts as any other quarterback, it's not surprising he dominates the top of many Super Bowl passing statistics. Let's take a look at how dominant Brady has been in the Super Bowl.
Most pass completions in Super Bowl history (career)
- Tom Brady (Patriots) -- 256
- Peyton Manning (Colts/Broncos) -- 103
- Kurt Warner (Rams/Cardinals) -- 83
- Joe Montana (49ers) -- 83
- Jim Kelly (Bills) -- 81
Most passing yards in Super Bowl history (career)
- Tom Brady (Patriots) -- 2,838
- Kurt Warner (Rams/Cardinals) -- 1,156
- Joe Montana (49ers) -- 1,152
- John Elway (Broncos) -- 1,128
- Peyton Manning (Colts/Broncos) -- 1,001
Most passing touchdowns in Super Bowl history (career)
- Tom Brady (Patriots) -- 18
- Joe Montana (49ers) -- 11
- Terry Bradshaw (Steelers) -- 9
- Roger Staubach (Cowboys) -- 8
- Kurt Warner (Rams/Cardinals) -- 6
- Steve Young (49ers) -- 6
Most Super Bowl wins (career)
- Tom Brady (Patriots) -- 6
- Joe Montana (49ers) -- 4
- Terry Bradshaw (Steelers) -- 4
- Troy Aikman (Cowboys) -- 3
Brady has completed 65.3% of his passes for 2,838 yards and 18 touchdowns to six interceptions in the Super Bowl, compiling a 95.6 passer rating. He's completed 33 passes for 20-plus yards in the Super Bowl, two of which have gone for touchdowns.
Brady has played 18 seasons with a playoff game, the most in NFL history. His 44 playoff appearances are more than 21 NFL teams have in their franchise history (tied with the Las Vegas Raiders). He has more playoff wins (33) than all but four franchises. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots have more -- and Brady has 30 of the Patriots' playoff wins.
If one adds Brady's playoff stats to the regular season, Brady is the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards (92,252) and passing touchdowns (661). His 263 wins are the most ever by a starting quarterback and his 37 comeback wins (down by 10-plus points in a game) are the most in NFL history.
Finally, we'll take a look at Brady's accomplishments in the 88-year history of NFL championship games.
Most NFL championships (player)
- Tom Brady (Patriots) -- 6
- Herb Adderley (Packers/Cowboys) -- 6
- Forrest Gregg (Packers/Cowboys) -- 6
- Fuzzy Thurston (Colts/Packers) -- 6
Most NFL championships (quarterback)
- Tom Brady (Patriots) -- 6
- Bart Starr (Packers) -- 5
- Joe Montana (49ers) -- 4
- Terry Bradshaw (Steelers) -- 4
Otto Graham technically has the most championships with seven, winning four straight in the All-American Football Conference with the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1949. Only three of those championships count as NFL titles (Browns joined the NFL in 1950). Graham played in a championship game in all 10 of his professional football seasons, the same amount as Brady -- and the most for a starting quarterback in NFL history.
A seventh Super Bowl title would match Graham's championship record, which is next on Brady's incredible list of achievements. Brady already has more than double the playoff wins (33) as second on the all-time list (Joe Montana has 16) and has the most passing touchdowns in Buccaneers franchise history (seven) -- and he's only played three postseason games (and one season) with the franchise.
Brady can add to these incredible championship statistics even more with another Super Bowl title, which would be his third in five years. That feat has only been accomplished six times in NFL history (twice by Brady). Brady's legacy is already established as the GOAT -- and another Super Bowl championship will only make sure that title is unchallenged.
