Portal:American football/Selected biography/June, 2007

Thomas Edward Brady, Junior (born August 3, 1977, in San Mateo, California, United States) is an American football quarterback at present with the New England Patriots of the National Football League. Brady attended Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo and played American football and baseball on the secondary level; although he was selected in the 18th round of the 1995 Major League Baseball draft, he elected to pursue collegiate football at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Brady did not start across his first two years with the Wolverines but was named first-string quarterback by head coach Lloyd Carr for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In each of his latter two seasons, Brady earned All-Big Ten Conference honors as Michigan won 20 of 25 games played and claimed victory in the 1998 Citrus Bowl and 1999 Orange Bowl. He was drafted made the 199th overall choice in the 2000 NFL draft by the New England Patriots to play behind Drew Bledsoe but finally assumed control of the side after Bledsoe suffered internal bleeding as a result of a collision suffered in a September 23, 2001, game against the New York Jets, to whom the team under Brady lost. Although New England won one of its next two games, Brady did not play exceptionally, posting quarterback ratings of 79.6 and 58.7, but he demonstrated improvement over the season, ultimately leading his team to an 11 wins and a playoff berth. The Patriots overcame the Oakland Raiders in a divisional round game in which an ostensible Brady fumble was controversially reversed on instant replay by referee Walt Coleman consistent with the tuck rule, and the team advanced to Super Bowl XXXVI with an American Football Conference championship game victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game in which Bledsoe replaced an injured Brady.

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