New England Patriots: 30 greatest players in franchise history

• 5x Super Bowl Champion (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI)
• 4x Super Bowl MVP (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XLIX, LI)
• 3x NFL MVP (2007, 2010, 2017)
• 13x Pro Bowl (2001, 2004-05, 2007, 2009-17)
• NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
• 3x First-Team All-Pro (2007, 2010, 2017)
• 2x Second-Team All-Pro (2005, 2016)
• 2x NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2007, 2010)
• 2009 NFL Comeback Player of the Year

GOAT. Yeah, we’re in GOAT territory now. Not only is Tom Brady the greatest player in Patriots franchise history, he might just be the greatest of all-time in the history of the NFL. In terms of quarterbacking, it’s Brady and his boyhood idol Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers/Kansas City Chiefs and that’s it.

Yes, there are other non-quarterbacks you could argue in the GOAT conversation including Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown and New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Where there is no argument is that Brady has won more Super Bowls (five) and started more at quarterback (eight) than any human being ever.

Is he human? With enough avocado ice cream and the trusted TB12 method, Brady is going to play forever. He just won NFL MVP in his age-40 season and came up one possession of going 6-2 in eight Super Bowls. The guy is an outstanding regular season quarterback, but the best in postseason history.

It’s been a long time since Brady was a sixth-round pick out of Michigan. He was a former fourth-string quarterback for then new Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. When the incumbent starter Drew Bledsoe succumbed to injury in 2001, Brady took over under center and the rest was history.

Sure, New England was predominantly a defensive-minded team in Brady’s first six seasons as a starter. He won his first three Super Bowls in his first five years in the league, earning two Super Bowl MVPs in the process. Then that all changed in 2007 when some guy named Randy Moss joined the Patriots receiving corps. Brady took his passing game to an elite level, winning his first of three career NFL MVPs. New England was one game short of going undefeated that fall.

Yes, he suffered a season-ending injury the following year in Week 1 of the 2008 NFL season. He would win NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2009 and earned his second NFL MVP in 2010. All the while, Brady was racking up Pro Bowl nods, as his Patriots won 12 games annually and regularly appearing in AFC Championship Games.

After a 10-year hiatus of winning Super Bowls, the 2014 Patriots would get it done versus the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. Two years later, Brady orchestrated the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Down 28-3 in the third quarter in Super Bowl LI, Brady would find a way to beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime to win the Lombardi Trophy for the fifth time.

So far, Brady has made 13 trips to the Pro Bowl, five All-Pro teams, won four Super Bowl MVPs, won three NFL MVPs and two Offensive Player of the Year awards. However, the only number that matters is five, as in five Super Bowl championships. New England is not the greatest dynasty in NFL history without Brady and Belichick. Together, they have made each other the GOATs in the respective realms, coaching and quarterbacking.