Even at 45 years old, Tom Brady is still going strong.
Brady had a career-high 5,300 yards and 43 touchdowns passing in his most recent campaign, which was statistically one of his best.
Some of Brady’s records grow increasingly unbeatable the longer he plays.
These are 12 records set by Tom Brady that might never be surpassed:
One seven Super Bowl rings.
Tom Brady has won seven Super Bowls.
The next closest players, all of whom had six, did not participate in NFL games during the current era.
Who was the last player to win five titles? Charles Haley, who finished with one Super Bowl ring in 1995.
It seems inconceivable that a single player could win eight or more Super Bowl rings in this era of NFL parity.
They would probably need to play well into their 40s in addition to having enormous success.
How many players are willing (or able) to play football for that long in this era of big-money contracts?
2. 243 Victories in the Role as Starting QB.
Tom Brady leads all starting quarterbacks with 243 victories; Brett Favre is next closest with 186 victories.
The nearest active participants?
Matt Ryan has 120 wins, and Aaron Rodgers has 139.
There will never be a break in this record.
3. A Single Team for 20 Seasons.
Participants arrive and depart.
NFL teams now have to make extremely tough decisions about which players to retain in the age of pay caps.
A player would have to play from their early 20s to their early 40s without ever leaving the squad in order to spend 20 seasons with the same team.
A player staying with the same squad for more than 20 seasons appears nearly unattainable in the modern era.
4. Titles to 18 Divisions.
Eighteen division titles?
The NFL is designed to keep players evenly distributed throughout the league, therefore it’s quite unlikely that one player would win more than 18 division titles in the future.
Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to an incredible run that might never be topped.
5. Ten Super Bowl Shows.
For most players, making it to the Super Bowl is an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Brady Tom? He made ten trips.
Once more, the likelihood of a player winning 11 Super Bowls in their career is about the same as that of going on the moon.
6. 35 wins in the postseason as a starter.
It takes skill, perseverance, and resolve to win in the postseason.
Over the course of his career, Tom Brady accomplished that 35 times (and counting).
With 11 postseason victories, Aaron Rodgers is the next closest active quarterback.
There’s no way this will break.
7. 6 Game-winning drives in the Super Bowl.
This is adhering to a theme: Tom Brady’s several Super Bowl appearances and victories.
Brady will probably keep a lot of Super Bowl records for a very long time, including those for passing yards, touchdown passes, attempts, completions, etc.
None of these records are going to be broken unless a quarterback makes it to the Super Bowl ten or more times.
8. 84,520 Yards Passed (and growing).
Matt Ryan is the next closest active player with 59,735 yards.
In all likelihood, Tom Brady’s passing yard record will remain intact for a very long time, unless a player like Matthew Stafford chooses to play into their mid-40s.
9. 82 distinct receivers received touchdown passes.
Another record that highlights Tom Brady’s amazing longevity and his willingness to include all players in the offense.
The Patriots would be extremely difficult to play against because a different player would probably have a huge game almost every time they played.
10. 624 Touchdowns Passed.
Currently holding the top spot on the all-time list with 624 passing touchdowns is Tom Brady.
Peyton Manning finished his career with 539 throwing touchdowns, while Drew Brees is at #2 with 571.
With 449, Aaron Rodgers, who is getting close to 40 years old, is ranked second among active players.
Aaron Rodgers would need more than four more seasons with 40 throwing touchdowns if Tom Brady retired today.
I believe that this record is the most likely to be broken, even though it would need Aaron Rodgers to play well into his 40s and Tom Brady to retire shortly.
A potentiality.
11. Fourteen Conference Championships were played in.
One more heinous statistic. Fourteen Conference Championships won? It is unlikely for most players to play for 14 years, much less win 14 Conference Championships.
It doesn’t seem possible for anyone to surpass this record.
12. Maximum Winning Percentage After More Than 200 Games.
Over his career, Tom Brady has a winning percentage of.764.
With a winning percentage of.669, Aaron Rodgers is the next closest active player on the list.
The next highest active player is Matt Ryan, who has a winning percentage of.541, all the way down.
Aaron Rodgers would still not catch Tom Brady even if he played for five more seasons and the Green Bay Packers won 17 games in a row.
An unbroken record.