Everyone likes to talk about the seven rings. It's the easy answer. But if you actually sit down and look at Tom Brady stats by year, the rings almost feel like a byproduct of something much weirder. Most quarterbacks have a "prime"—that five-to-seven-year window where they’re untouchable before the wheels fall off.
Brady didn't do that. Honestly, he had three separate Hall of Fame careers stacked on top of each other.
Think about it. In his 20s, he was the ultimate "clutch" game manager who turned into a winner overnight. In his 30s, he became a statistical monster, breaking records with Randy Moss and reinventing himself after an ACL tear. Then, in his 40s—when most guys are golfing or doing color commentary—he put up some of the biggest numbers of his entire life in Tampa Bay.
The Early Years: 2000–2006 (The Foundation)
Most people forget that in 2000, Brady was just a guy on the bench. He threw three passes. That's it. One completion for six yards. He was the fourth-stringer behind Drew Bledsoe.
Then 2001 happened. Mo Lewis hits Bledsoe, Brady steps in, and the world changes. That year, he wasn't "The GOAT" yet. He threw for 2,843 yards and 18 touchdowns. He was efficient, sure, but he wasn't carrying the team on his back. By 2002, he actually led the league in passing touchdowns with 28, even though the Patriots missed the playoffs.
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- 2003 & 2004: These were the back-to-back Super Bowl years. His stats were remarkably consistent—3,620 yards in '03 and 3,692 in '04. He was the king of the "dink and dunk," keeping the chains moving while the defense suffocated people.
- 2005: This is a sneaky-important year. He led the NFL in passing yards for the first time with 4,110. It was the first sign that he could be a high-volume passer, not just a winner.
By the end of 2006, he had three rings, but some critics still called him a "system quarterback." They had no idea what was coming next.
The Peak Statistical Era: 2007–2016
If 2001-2006 was about winning, 2007 was about destruction. This is the year everyone points to when they look at Tom Brady stats by year.
Joining forces with Randy Moss, Brady threw for 4,806 yards and a then-record 50 touchdowns. His passer rating was a staggering 117.2. He basically broke the sport for a season. Then, disaster. One quarter into 2008, his ACL shreds.
Most 31-year-old QBs in 2008 might have lost a step after that. Instead, Brady came back in 2009 and won Comeback Player of the Year with 4,398 yards.
The 2010 "No-Pick" Season
2010 was perhaps his most efficient year ever. He threw 36 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. Let that sink in. He went 11 consecutive games without throwing a single pick. He became the first-ever unanimous MVP that season.
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He just kept evolving. In 2011, he crossed the 5,000-yard mark for the first time (5,235 yards). As he moved into his mid-to-late 30s, the stats didn't dip. Between 2014 and 2016, he won two more Super Bowls and maintained a TD-to-INT ratio that looked like a typo. In 2016, specifically, he played only 12 games due to a suspension and still threw 28 touchdowns against just 2 interceptions.
The Tampa Transformation: 2020–2022
The move to Tampa Bay in 2020 was supposed to be a retirement tour. Instead, it was a stat-padding masterclass.
At age 43, Brady threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns. He won his seventh ring. But look at 2021—this is the season that defies logic. At 44 years old, Brady led the NFL in:
- Passing yards (5,316)
- Passing touchdowns (43)
- Completions (485)
- Attempts (719)
He was throwing the ball more than any other quarterback in the league and doing it better than guys twenty years younger than him. Even in his final year, 2022, he set the NFL record for most completions in a single season (490). He was still slinging it until the very last second.
Surprising Nuance in the Numbers
We usually look at yards and TDs, but the real magic of Brady's longevity is in the stuff that doesn't make the highlights.
He never had a losing season as a starter. Think about the luck and skill required for that. 22 years as a starter, 22 winning records. He also threw a touchdown pass to 98 different receivers over his career. He didn't need a superstar; he made the guy at the bottom of the roster look like one.
The comparison between his 20s and 40s is the most jarring part. He actually had more passing yards (27,362) and more touchdowns (193) in his 40s than he did in his 20s (21,564 yards and 147 TDs). He literally doubled his production as he aged.
Making Sense of the Career Total
When you tally up the Tom Brady stats by year, you end up with a career total that looks like it belongs in a video game: 89,214 passing yards and 649 touchdowns in the regular season alone.
If you add the playoffs, he has over 100,000 passing yards.
People argue about who the "most talented" QB is—maybe it's Mahomes or Rodgers—but the "greatness" is in the volume and the consistency. Brady didn't just have a high ceiling; he had a floor that remained higher than most people's peaks for two decades.
To really understand his impact, don't just look at the 2007 or 2021 seasons. Look at 2001 next to 2022. He won a Super Bowl in a season where he threw for under 3,000 yards, and he led the league in passing two decades later. He adapted as the league changed from a "run-first" era to the "passing explosion" era.
If you're looking to apply these insights to how you analyze modern quarterbacks, focus on the TD-to-INT ratio rather than just total yards. Brady’s ability to protect the ball (1.8% career interception rate) while remaining aggressive is what separated him from the high-volume passers who never won big.
Check the historical game logs on Pro Football Reference if you want to see the week-to-week consistency. You'll find that his "bad" games were almost always followed by a month of near-perfect football. That's the real stat that defined him.
Next Steps for Deep Context:
- Compare the 2007 Patriots stats against the 2020 Buccaneers to see how his depth of target changed.
- Cross-reference his late-season December stats against his September stats to see how he performed in cold weather versus early-season humidity.
- Analyze the "EPA per dropback" (Expected Points Added) for his 2010 MVP season versus his 2017 MVP season to see which version was actually more efficient.