Tom Brady Mailbag: What Was The Toughest Stretch of the GOAT’s Career?

Tom Brady might have the most Super Bowl titles of any player in NFL history. However, if you asked him, his entire career wasn’t filled with sunshine and roses.

In the return of Brady’s mailbag (presented by Verizon), one fan asked him what was the most challenging time of his 23-year NFL career. As you’d expect, Brady pointed to a period where he and the New England Patriots didn’t win a Super Bowl. 

“There was a period in consecutive seasons where I blew out my knee in 2008 and in 2009, we came back and we had a terrible season. That was one of the worst seasons we had. We lost in the first round of the playoffs,” Brady said. “In 2010, we had a great season, but lost in the [divisional round] to the Jets. In 2011, we get beat by the Giants in the Super Bowl. In 2012, we lose in the [AFC Championship Game] to Baltimore. In 2013, we lose in the [AFC Championship Game] to Denver. 

“That period right there ended in a lot of tough losses and a pretty tough knee rehab.” 

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What Brady didn’t mention was that in the season prior to that six-year stretch, the Patriots lost their undefeated season in Super Bowl XLII at the hands of the Giants. In Week 1 of the very next season, Brady tore his ACL when then-Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Bernard Pollard hit him low while trying to sack him.

That six-season stretch Brady mentioned was part of a nine-year run between Super Bowl titles for New England. As the years went by after the Patriots won their third Super Bowl in four seasons in 2004, it appeared that the dynasty days might have been over in Foxborough. The Patriots went 4-5 in the postseason between 2008-13 as Brady reached his mid-30s.

However, the Patriots were able to get back on top in 2014. Following a 2-2 start that season, they went on a run to win 10 of their final 12 games en route to taking down the defending champion Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. 

As the Patriots were able to reach the mountaintop in 2014, Brady credited the Patriots’ title drought for allowing him to enjoy his success much more.  

“I’d say that area right there made me appreciate what we accomplished in 2014. So remarkable,” Brady said. “It actually brought so much love back to everything we were doing because sometimes when you work really hard at something and it doesn’t pay off, there’s a lot of scar tissue that builds up. 

“Sometimes, you think you’re in a great position to succeed and you don’t quite get the way you want it. Sometimes, it can discourage you. I’m just proud it motivated everybody to dig that much deeper to try to finally get the outcome we wanted by just doing things at a higher level and executing it in a better way.”

That nine-season drought was the longest Brady went without winning a Super Bowl in his career. The 2014 victory was the first four Super Bowls he won in a seven-year stretch, nabbing the last one when he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.

Of course, for many franchises, a nine-year Super Bowl drought is nothing. 

“Well, you’re right, it’s great perspective,” Brady said with a smirk when it was pointed out that Jets and Browns fans might not have much sympathy for Brady’s Super Bowl drought. “I don’t necessarily have that perspective, but the question was directed toward me. So, that was the answer.”

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