How Tom Brady’s Super Bowl Triumphs Changed The Careers of 10 NFL Quarterbacks

Tom Brady’s success shaped the careers of 10 QBs© Instagram/ @tombrady

Tom Brady retired with seven Super Bowl rings, but the quarterbacks who faced him in January often paid a price that never showed up in a box score. Matt Ryan cannot escape "28-3." Russell Wilson's red-zone throw against New England split a locker room. Kurt Warner's career began to slide the night St. Louis lost to a sixth-round pick. Ten passers, from Drew Bledsoe to Peyton Manning, saw their legacies bent by Brady's shadow, and a few of those stories run far darker than one bad Sunday.

Tom Brady's biggest playoff wins and the quarterbacks who lost them

Atlanta led New England 28-3 in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI. Ryan, a one-time MVP and still the best quarterback the Falcons have had, watched that margin melt while Brady played what may have been the game of his life. The score follows him everywhere.

Wilson's night was different. Seattle arrived at Super Bowl XLIX as the defending champion, armed with a punishing run game and one of the best defenses ever assembled. Wilson then threw an interception to Malcolm Butler near the goal line. That one play gave Brady's dynasty a second wind. It also exposed a feud with the "Legion of Boom" that had been simmering for some time, and the Seahawks have not returned to the big game since.

Close calls sting in their own way. Philip Rivers had the Chargers up 21-13 in the fourth quarter of a 2006 playoff game after a franchise-best 14-2 season, but Marlon McCree fumbled away an interception and Brady escaped with a 24-21 win. 

In the 2017 season, Blake Bortles led by ten entering the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game. Myles Jack seemed headed for a touchdown on a fumble return until officials ruled him down. Brady then hit Danny Amendola for two scores and won 24-20. Bortles was released in 2019 and retired in 2022.

How Tom Brady's dominance shaped NFL quarterback legacies

Some damage came slowly. Bledsoe lost his job to an injury in 2001, watched Brady lead the Patriots to a title, and later beat New England only once in six tries as a Bill. David Garrard took Jacksonville to the playoffs twice, and the Patriots ended both runs. Ben Roethlisberger owns two rings and nearly every Steelers passing record, yet he lost both AFC Championship Games he played against Brady, so doubts about his luck linger.

Drew Brees may have had the cruelest exit. His 2020 Saints swept the Buccaneers, including a 38-3 win, the only time a division rival ever swept Brady. Tampa still took the playoff meeting 30-20, and Brees retired.

Maning's case is stranger. He finished 3-2 against Brady in the playoffs, which sounds like a win. But Brady took nine of their twelve regular-season games, and Manning's worst losses landed early, while "The Sheriff" was still building his name. Warner's slide started in Super Bowl XXXVI. A finger injury cost him seven starts, and the Rams cut him in 2004, although he did reach another Super Bowl with Arizona in 2008.

Brady finished with the career records for wins, completions, passing yards and touchdowns. Most of the quarterbacks above supplied a few of those numbers.