If you've not heard that by now, as if being on Mars for the past 22 years--Brady was drafted with the number 6 in 199th overall to the Patriots in the 2000 NFL Draft. Brady entered the league as an unassuming quarterback and his debut Madden rating reflected that. Brady was able to throw just three passes that season, in spot roles in the backfield behind Drew Bledsoe, connecting on one in the six-yard range. There was no way anyone--not even the New York Jets--knew who Brady would become.
Perhaps due to his absence of playing time up to Mut 22 coins this point, or perhaps due to the darts-on-a-dartboard nature of players who were virtually unknown in Madden Brady's overall rating actually went down 6 points during Madden NFL 02, which coincided with the start in the season 2001. He wouldn't take long before Brady made his debut, however, filling in to replace an injured Drew, Bledsoe, following an incident in which the Jets' Mo Lewis clobbered the starting quarterback and sent him to the bench during the third week of the season. The remainder is history. At the time Bledsoe could be fit enough to be able to return after his injury, he'd already lost his job to young and aspiring Tom Brady.
Brady would go on to guide the team to an 11-5 record (11-3 as the starter) and, following two wild playoff matches against the Raiders and Steelers -- lead the Patriots franchise to its first-ever Super Bowl victory. If you've heard this story you'll remember that this won't be the last victory.
After beating the infamously dubbed "Greatest Show On Turf" St. Louis Rams, Brady came into 2002 as the reigning champion and the week 1 starter. In his 22-year playing career that included 20 seasons as the starter for 20 games (we'll talk about his disastrous 2008 campaign later) and also made it to the postseason 19 times out of those 20 healthy seasons. The 2002 season was the only one in which Brady didn't play in the January game, finishing 9-7 but losing out in a three-way tiebreaker for divisional play the following year, which instead led the Jets to the playoffs. In the early days, it was Brady who was still thought of as something of a game manager, though the season's 28 touchdowns would be his highest score in his career prior to the time Randy Moss showed up half years later. This would also prove to cheap Madden 22 coins be Brady's last season in Madden in which he'd be graded below a 90.