Photos: Tom Brady Redefined NFL Greatness In Super Bowl Spotlight

FOXBOROUGH, MA —For a player who became synonymous with the No. 12, there was no bigger driver in Tom Brady's football career than the No. 199.

That is the spot — the last pick in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft — when a part-time starter out of the University of Michigan became the greatest late-round draft call in NFL history.

Brady famously told New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft as a rookie that picking him would be the best decision he ever made and often said he used how many times other teams passed him over in the draft as motivation during his more than two decades on the field.

Twenty-two years later, there is no doubt his declaration to Kraft was prescient.

Brady called it a career on Tuesday with an announcement on his Instagram account —two days after ESPN reported the 44-year-old was planning to retire following seven Super Bowl championships, 10 Super Bowl appearances, five Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Awards, three NFL MVPs and six All-Pro recognitions.

He retires as the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns and career wins.

"Words cannot describe the feeling I have for Tom Brady, nor adequately express the gratitude my family, the New England Patriots and the fans have for Tom and all he did during his career," Kraft said. "A generation of football fans have grown up only knowing an NFL in which Tom Brady dominated."

In the latter years of his career, he built up the brand of his training and athletic lifestyle company TB12 and recently launched a clothing line. He is married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen, with two children, and has an older son with actress Bridget Moynahan.

"This is difficult for me to write but here it goes," Brady said in his retirement announcement. "I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career and now it's time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention."

But while he will still likely keep a high profile in commercials, he will always be celebrated most for his triumphs as the consensus G.O.A.T. — Greatest Of All Time — with two separate Super Bowl dynasties of three championships each spanning 20 years in New England and a final title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.

"Tom Brady will be remembered as one of the greatest to ever play in the NFL," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement Tuesday. "An incredible competitor and leader, his stellar career is remarkable for its longevity but also for the sustained excellence he displayed year after year.

"Tom made everyone around him better and always seemed to rise to the occasion in the biggest moments. ... He inspired fans in New England, Tampa and around the world with one of the greatest careers in NFL history."

Brady's career was not without controversy. In January 2015, league representatives confiscated footballs from the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Brady was accused of having the footballs intentionally "deflated" and was eventually suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season after a series of appeals.

Including the 2015 Super Bowl victory against the Seattle Seahawks, Brady went on to win four Super Bowls after the NFL took steps to monitor the footballs for deflation.

Brady was kept as the No. 4 quarterback his rookie year in New England and was thrust into the spotlight in the second game of the 2001 season when then-franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe was injured on a sideline hit against the New York Jets.

Brady went on to lead the team to the Super Bowl against the St. Louis Rams that season where he orchestrated a game-winning drive to beat the "Greatest Team on Turf" as a two-touchdown underdog.

The Patriots came back two years later and won a second Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers before beating the Philadelphia Eagles to cap the 2004-05 NFL season with a third title in four years.

Brady's stature as a premier NFL passer grew over the next decade — including the 2007 season when he threw for a then-NFL-record 50 touchdowns and led the Patriots to an undefeated regular season.

"Congratulations to my friend, Tom, on an unbelievable football career," Peyton Manning, Hall of Fame quarterback and longtime Brady rival, said in a statement. "To do it as long as he did at the highest levels is absolutely incredible. It was an honor and a privilege to compete against him on the field.

"I have always admired and respected his competitiveness, his dedication, his discipline and his commitment to being the best."

But it wasn't until the second half of his career that he established himself as the best of the best, with a dramatic Super Bowl victory against the Seattle Seahawks in the 2014-15 season, the miraculous comeback from down 28-3 to beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime two years later, and a sixth championship in the 2018-19 season against the Los Angeles Rams.

Brady left the Patriots for Tampa in the 2020-21 season and led the Buccaneers to the title on their home field in a 31-9 blowout of the Kansas City Chiefs. In what would be his final NFL game two weeks ago, he guided the Bucs back from down 27-3 to the Rams in the NFC Championship game —leading a game-tying TD drive on his final NFL possession — before the Rams won on a last-season field goal.

"He set a standard and helped create a culture that took our team to the mountaintop," Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said on Tuesday. "It has been an honor to be his head coach for the past two seasons. I wish it didn't have to end, but few players have the opportunity to leave the games on their own terms. Even fewer can do it while playing at an elite level.

"Tom was the exception."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.