If You Split Tom Brady’s Career In Half, Which Is Better?

With Tom Brady announcing his retirement, there are plenty of ways to compare his stats to the other greats in NFL history.

But, Brady’s talent level and longevity are so unique, you can practically split his career into 2 separate Hall of Fame resumes, from 2000-2011, and then from 2012 to now.

So, before we compare Brady to the other greatest QBs, which version of his career was better in the same number of games in the same league average?

While Brady seemed to have more offensive responsibilities in the latter half, especially in his final years with Tampa Bay, his ability to protect the ball may be the most notable aspect of his career.

Despite his attempts being over 800 more in career 2, or 3.5 more a game, he only threw 94 picks to 128, which is an interception percentage of 1.4 compared to 2.2.

But, despite the higher number of mistakes in his earlier years, Brady was efficient, as his adjusted yards per attempt was 8.09 in the early 2000’s compared to just 7.32.

But even if you were to split up Tom Brady’s career into 2 separate resumes, he would still have produced over 47,500 passing yards and 330 touchdowns with an interception percentage under 2.3% in those splits.

Only Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Matt Ryan are the only other quarterbacks on that list throughout their entire career. So, how would they compare in the same era against both versions of Brady?

In the same league averages, and in the same amount of games, Drew Brees is the only QB able to edge either of the Brady’s in yards, while Rodgers would lead in touchdowns after his microscopic TD/INT ratio shrinks in a balanced era.

But, for Brady to have both halves of his career come this close in a head-to-head comparison against some of the other best QBs in this era just shows how remarkable his longevity had been at this level.

And usually for a player with this many games under their belt, their per game metrics take a hit. But Brady’s argument against some of the other greatest quarterbacks of all-time is closer than you’d expect.

In fact, of the 10 quarterbacks to surpass 55,000 career passing yards, Brady is still 4th on the list in yards per game, touchdown percentage, and third in career QB rate.

And considering Aaron Rodgers is the only active player on this list now, it’s safe to say Brady’s records are safe until the younger crop of franchise quarterbacks get old.