New England Patriots kick-off in 12 days: profiling No. 12 Tom Brady
Opening day countdowns are great. So are player profiles. Here at Musket Fire, we decided to combine them and create a Week 1 countdown-oriented, jersey number-dictated player profile series. Yesterday we looked at No. 13 Brandon Gibson, and the day before that it was No. 14 Chris Harper. Because today marks 12 days until the New England Patriots open 2015, we are profiling No. 12, quarterback Tom Brady.
First off, you could take a college course on the career of Brady. The Michigan man has played with all sorts of wide receivers and running backs and all sorts of offensive schemes.
Related: Happy 38th, Tom!
From his game-manager role in the Antowain Smith days of the early 2000s to his high-flying circus act with Randy Moss in 2007 to the Rob Gronkowski domination of today, Brady has been the best player in the NFL since Drew Bledsoe got hurt on that fateful September day back in 2001.
Here are Brady’s career regular season numbers: 205 starts, 63.5 percent completion rate, 53,258 yards, 398 touchdowns and 143 interceptions. His touchdown rate is 5.5 percent and his interception rate is a clean two percent.
Here are Brady’s career postseason numbers: 29 starts, 62.9 percent completion rate, 7,345 yards, 53 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. Brady has essentially played two additional seasons when you view the scope of his work in January and February.
As a regular season starter, Brady is 160-47. Pretty much, he wins three out of every four games. Brady’s career playoff record stands at 21-8, which isn’t too shabby either.
If Brady’s suspension for his role in Deflategate remains unchanged, he will miss the first four games of 2015. As much of a bummer that is, try to think of it as a lengthy span of time for the 38-year-old quarterback to rest his body and mentally gear-up for the remainder of the year.
Related: 4 suspended stars that will miss NE-PIT
In other words, these are four games that we know Brady won’t get injured. That counts for something, especially if he’s really going to play into his 40s at a high level.
The odds may be against Brady, but he’s used to that. I would advice against doubting the best quarterback to ever put his hands on a pigskin.
In case you missed them, here are the profiles for No. 15 Reggie Wayne, No. 16 Jonathan Krause, No. 17 Aaron Dobson, No. 18 Matthew Slater, No. 19 Brandon LaFell, No. 21 Malcolm Butler, No. 22 Robert McClain, No. 23 Patrick Chung, No. 24 Bradley Fletcher, No. 25 Daxton Swanson, No. 26 Logan Ryan, No. 27 Tavon Wilson, No. 28 James White, No. 29 LeGarrette Blount, No. 30 Duron Harmon, No. 31 Tarell Brown, No. 32 Devin McCourty, No. 33 Dion Lewis, No. 35 Jonas Gray, No. 36 Tyler Gaffney and No. 37 Jordan Richards.
Be sure to check back on Musket Fire tomorrow morning as we celebrate 11 days until Week 1 by profiling the owner of the No. 11 jersey, wide receiver Julian Edelman.