If you haven't had a chance to take today's trivia quiz on all things Tommy B, scroll down a ways before following the jump and test your knowledge. By no means was today's quiz comprehensive, but I think it represents a nice cross-section of Brady's legendary career. I'm guessing that most of you found today's quiz fairly easy; if you've wasted spent as many years as I have praying to the Altar of Brady, these answers should have been second nature to you. If you found yourself stumped on a handful, well then now you know. And knowing is half the battle. After all, you never know when you'll need to bust out a random Tom Brady fact.
And if anyone on here is really good at Photoshop and is willing to put a picture of me in there next to the image of Brady accompanying this article, hit me up. I'll make it worth your while.
Answers after the jump.
1. When is Tommy B's birthday?
Answer: C. August 3rd, 1977. It isn't a National Holiday - yet. But it will be. At the very least, people in Boston should be sure to get good and hydrated every August 3rd from here on out.
2. Which of the following quarterbacks was NOT ahead of Brady on the depth chart at some point in his life?
Answer: C. Tim Rattay. While Rattay was the other quarterback the Patriots were considering drafting with the 199th pick in the 2000 draft, the two never played together and Brady never backed him up.
3. We all know that Brady was pick #199 in the draft; what's easy to forget was that it was actually a compensatory pick. Which of the following players was NOT lost to free agency in 1999 that helped give the Pats the fabled 6th rounder?
Answer: A. Max Lane. While the way compensatory picks works doesn't allow us to assign a specific free agent for a specific pick, I'd like to think that Tupa, a punter, was the player that netted the Pats pick #199 and subsequently the greatest quarterback of his generation. We'll never know for sure, but I'm going to stick with Tupa.
4. Which of the following players was NOT drafted before Tom Brady?
Answer: C. Brian Jennings. Jennings was selected in the 7th round, 230th overall, by the San Francisco 49ers. He is a two time Pro Bowler (including this last season) and is viewed as one of the best long-snappers in the game.
5. Who caught Tom Brady's first ever NFL pass?
Answer: D. Rod Rutledge. Rutledge's 6 yard reception against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day 2000 is probably the most notable catch of his career. The tight end left the Patriots for a brief stint with the Texans after the 2001 season, but only lasted a year. He finished his career with 27 receptions for 204 yards and 1 touchdown. He now plays in the Arena Football League.
6. True or False: Tom Brady won his first official start for the Patriots.
Answer: True. Brady's first start came in Week 3 of the 2001 season, where he led the Patriots to a 44-13 win over the Colts despite an unspectacular day of going 13 for 23 for 168 yards and a 79.6 passer rating.
7. Which team handed Brady his first official loss as a starter?
Answer: A. The Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins beat the Patriots 30-10 in Week 4 of the 2001 season to drop the team to 1-3 for the year. Brady would go on to have his revenge later in that season, beating Miami at Foxboro 20-13 and securing New England a playoff spot.
8. Which of the following players went to the same college as Tom Brady?
Answer: B. Ty Law. While Brady and Law never crossed paths, they are both Michigan men.
9. Who caught Tom Brady's only touchdown pass in Super Bowl XXXVI?
Answer: D. David Patten. And what a catch it was, too; Patten had to adjust mid-air to make the grab and came down in the back of the end zone for Tommy B's first Super Bowl touchdown pass. I always thought that Patten was an underrated receiver when he was with the Patriots.
10. During his record setting 2007 campaign, in how many games did Brady have at least three touchdown passes?
Answer: D. 12. This set the NFL record for this category. In fact, during that season he was only held to less than two TD passes twice - week 12 against the Eagles (one TD pass) and week 14 against the Jets (0 TD passes).
11. Excluding 2008, when was the last season Tom Brady did not start all 16 games for New England?
Answer: C. 2001. Brady played in 15 games in 2001, starting 14 of them. Since then he has played in and started every single regular-season and postseason game, with the exception of 2008 when Bernard Pollard first began his streak of ruining Pats fans' years.
12. How many 300 yard passing games did Brady have for the Patriots in 2010?
Answer: C. 4. Brady threw for 338 yards at Detroit, 350 yards against Pittsburgh, 304 against the Jets, and 351 against the Bears.
13. True or False: Except for 2000 and 2008, when he was not the primary starter, Brady has passed for more than 3,000 in each of his seasons with the Patriots.
Answer: False. While Brady has thrown for at least 3,000 yards since 2002, he barely missed the mark during his legendary 2001 campaign with 2,843 yards. In 2000, Brady played in one game and passed for 6 yards.
14. Which of the following is NOT an NFL record currently held by Tom Brady?
Answer: B. Highest single season passer rating. His 2007 season rating of 117.2 is only enough for 3rd highest all time. Among many others, Brady currently holds the NFL record for fewest starts to reach 100 wins (131), Most TD passes in a single month (20 in October 2007), and is tied with Drew Brees for most completions in a Super Bowl (32).
15. True or False: Alec Shane once sat next to Tom Brady on a cross country flight from LA to Boston.
Answer: False. Unfortunately, I have neither met nor sat next to Tommy B at any point in my life. I did, however, sit next to his father on a plane once in 2007 when I was on my way to the home opener against the Chargers. I didn't know who it was at first, but when I saw a man sitting next to me with about $50,000 worth of Patriots 2001 Super Bowl ring on his finger, I had to say something. I still remember our conversation very vividly:
Me: "Um...excuse me, sir...is that a 2001 Patriots Super Bowl ring?
Poppa B: "Yes it is. My son plays for the Patriots and he gave it to me after they won their second one."
Me: "Your son plays for the Patriots? Who is he? I'm a huge Pats fan, so I've probably heard of him."
Poppa B (with a pause and a knowing grin): "Tom Brady."
He was a really nice guy, and I tried my very best to reign in the fanboy talk, so our conversation remained relatively brief. But when the flight was over and I shook his hand as I de-planed, all I could think was "the hand I'm shaking right now has hugged both Tom and Giselle. It will probably be hugging both of them later on this week." I don't have a whole lot of excitement in my life, so I personally think it was pretty awesome.
And yes. I realize how lame a story that was. I also realize getting excited about meeting an athlete's dad is the equivalent of Chunk from The Goonies saying Michael Jackson didn't come to his house just to use the bathroom - but his sister did. But I don't care. Plus, I now have a lame talking point should I ever realize my dream meet Tommy B in person. I figure saying "hey, I sat next to your dad once on a plane - really nice guy" will go over much better than my initial plan of just standing there slack jawed and giggling like an idiot.