There was nothing like the analysis and the iconic voice of the late NFL great John Madden.
A clip of the legendary NFL coach and commentator discussing quarterback Tom Brady with co-host Al Michaels during a Monday Night Football game on Sept. 9, 2002, went viral on Wednesday.
Brady, then New England’s third-year quarterback under Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, was facing the Steelers in the season opener, one season after taking over as starter and leading the team to its first Super Bowl. Madden’s analysis during this game would essentially foreshadow the greatness and the body of work that Brady would produce in the NFL.
“Tom Brady and his calmness reminds me of Joe Montana,” Madden said on the broadcast. “I’m not saying Tom Brady is Joe Montana but I’m saying the way he gets back there and makes everything look so effortlessly and easy. ...
“He’s not struggling, he is not bouncing around there and his feet going. He’s just back there and calm and reading and getting rid of the ball, that part reminds of Joe Montana.”
Brady threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots defeated the Steelers, 30–14. The 15-time Pro Bowler, who went to Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif., which is roughly 30 minutes from San Francisco, grew up a big Joe Montana, Steve Young and 49ers fan.
Twenty years later, the seven-time Super Bowl winner is preparing for his 23rd NFL season in 2022. Brady, who will turn 45 in August, leads the league in several career records that include completions (7,263), touchdowns (624), passing yards (84,520), and quarterback wins (243). In ’21, he set a league record with 485 completions in a single season.
In the 2021 season, Brady threw for a career-high 5,316 yards along with 43 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, leading Tampa Bay to a 13–4 regular-season record. After beating Philadelphia in the wild-card round, the Buccaneers fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams at home, 30–27, in the divisional round.
Brady finished as the runner-up to Aaron Rodgers for the league MVP award, which he has won three times, last in 2017.
Who would have thought that the former Michigan quarterback that the Patriots selected No. 199 in the 2000 NFL draft would go on to win five Super Bowl MVP trophies, six All-Pro selections, switch franchises, retire and come out of retirement in a 22-year span?
Brady's level of calmness, effort and skill was on display early on. In 20-plus years, he has set a standard of excellence at the quarterback position.
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