Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Tom Brady (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots NFL franchise. Born in San Mateo, California. Brady played college football for University of Michigan and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the 6th round (199th overall). He was the backup to the Patriots' quaterback, Drew Bledsoe. On September 23, 2001, the Patriots were playing against their AFC East division rivals, New York Jets at Foxboro Stadium. During that game, Drew Bledsoe suffered internal bleeding after being collided with Jets linebacker, Mo Lewis. New England not only lost the game but Bledsoe, too. Soon after Brady was named the starting quarterback, he led the Patriots to a 11-5 winning record and into the playoffs. During a 2002 divisional playoff game against the Oakland Raiders, Tom Brady had fumbled on a pass attempt, with Oakland protecting a three-point lead. Invoking the "tuck rule", where a ball is ruled an incomplete pass after the quarterback starts any forward throwing motion, the referee overturned the decision after reviewing the instant replay, calling the drop an incomplete pass rather than a fumble. The Patriots would eventually tie the game and win it. After defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots were not favor to win against the NFC champions, St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots won the Super Bowl by their defense stopping the Rams' high powered offense and Tom Brady's management of the New England offense. Tom Brady was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXVI. People Magazine listed Tom Brady as one of the 2002 Most Beautiful People. External Links ESPN.com Tom Brady Profile This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.