Tom Brady Retires After 22 N.F.L. Seasons

Brady’s stardom in New England incubated for years in ideal circumstances after springing from a fluke event on Sept. 23, 2001. Jets linebacker Mo Lewis knocked out Drew Bledsoe, who sheared a blood vessel in his chest, thrusting Brady into the game.

Brady formed, with Bill Belichick, the greatest quarterback-coach partnership in N.F.L. history, capitalizing on the organization’s stable infrastructure, the league’s short-passing boom and his own durability — the only games he missed because of injury came in 2008, after tearing a knee ligament in the season opener. He reveled in New England’s “Do Your Job” ethos, stifling his charismatic personality to emerge as a pocket passer extraordinaire, winning six championships and 17 division titles with the Patriots.

But even his playoff defeats were memorable. He was twice foiled in the Super Bowl by the Giants. The first time, in February 2008, thwarted New England’s bid for an unbeaten season. The second, in February 2012, prompted Bündchen, incensed by several dropped passes, to scoff afterward that her husband couldn’t throw and catch at the same time. Then, against Philadelphia six years later, Brady torched the Eagles for 505 passing yards — one of his many postseason records — but lost, 41-33, after being stripped of the ball with about two minutes remaining.

Perhaps his crowning achievement, though, came at the end of the 2016 season, when he completed his nationwide tour of vengeance by overcoming a 25-point third-quarter deficit to stun the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl. He had started that season with a four-game suspension for his role in a cheating scandal known as Deflategate, a spat about underinflated footballs meant to give him an advantage throwing the ball that devolved into circular arguments — played out in federal court, no less — about N.F.L. power dynamics and the philosophical underpinnings of the Patriots’ dynasty.

That championship, like so many other moments, reaffirmed Brady’s enduring belief in himself. Every team, including New England, bypassed him multiple times during the 2000 draft, and Brady was so distraught that no one had taken him in earlier rounds that he left his California home, to take a walk.

A few weeks after the Patriots selected him, the team’s owner, Robert K. Kraft, encountered Brady not far from his office. Brady introduced himself to Kraft, who said he knew that he was their sixth-round pick from the University of Michigan.

“That’s right,” Brady replied, in Kraft’s retelling. “And I’m the best decision this organization has ever made.”