Tom Brady

Update: Tom Brady out for Season!
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10968803

You want a Hollywood story? Check out Tom Brady’s.

When Brady enrolled at the University of Michigan, he was seventh on the depth chart and was more likely to hit the lottery than step on the playing field. After seeing a sports psychologist to help himself cope through the frustration of not playing, Brady eventually started every game in 1998 and 1999 and even set Michigan records for most pass attempts and competitions in a season.

Even though he finished his Michigan career on a high note, he lasted all the way into the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. In need of a backup and developmental starter behind Drew Bledsoe, the New England Patriots selected Brady with the 199th overall selection.

Not even expected to play that day, on September 23, 2001 (his second season in the NFL), Brady was thrust into the starting lineup after Bledsoe suffered internal bleeding after a collision with Jets linebacker Mo Lewis.

Brady went on to lead the Patriots on a tear that found them playing against the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. Brady’s magical season fittingly ended when he took the Patriots’ from their own 15-yard line down to the Rams’ 31 and setting up Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning field goal as time expired. Brady was named Super Bowl MVP.

All Tom Brady has done since then is become a four-time Pro Bowl selection, a two-time All-Pro selection and three-time Super Bowl champion. He just missed winning his fourth Super Bowl in 2008 when the New York Giants upset the Patriots in Arizona.

Brady is a two-time Super Bowl MVP, was the Sportsman of the Year in 2005 and the AP’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2007. He’s also the New England Patriots’ all-time leader in passing touchdowns and was the AP NFL MVP in 2007.

Even though his career is far from finished, Tom Brady is already a quarterback legend and a national superstar. He’s often featured on the cover of magazines, in commercials and is one of the NFL’s poster boys. Along with Peyton Manning, he’s easily the best quarterback in the NFL and with him under center, the Patriots are often favored to win the Super Bowl on a yearly basis.

Not bad for a guy that wasn’t picked until the sixth round and who once was the seventh-best quarterback on his college team.