Perhaps due to his lack of time on the field to Mut 22 coins the point, or due to the darts-on-a-dartboard style of the players that were virtually unknown in Madden Brady's overall performance decreased by one point in Madden NFL 02, which coincided with the start on the first day of training camp for 2001. The time would come when Brady would make his official debut, however, when he was called in to replace an injured Drew Bledsoe after his teammate Jets' Mo Lewis clobbered the QB who was the starter and sent him to the bench during Week 3. The rest is history. By the time Bledsoe would be healthy enough to come back after his injury, he'd already lost his job to the popular Tom Brady.

Brady would go on to help the team achieve an overall record of 11-5 (11-3 as the starting quarterback) and, after two wild playoff matches against the Raiders and Steelers--led the Patriots franchise to their first Super Bowl victory. If you've been following this story and you'll also remember that this won't be the last.

After besting the prematurely nicknamed "Greatest Show on Turf" St. Louis Rams, Brady came into 2002 as the reigning champion, and the starter for Week 1. Brady's career spans 22 years, he was the starter for 20 times (we'll get to his doomed 2008 season later) and also made his way to playoffs 19 times out of 20 good seasons. The 2002 season was the only season in which he missed January football, finishing 9-7 but losing out in a three-way tiebreaker for divisional play in the year 2002 that sent the Jets to the playoffs. It was in this early era Brady who was still seen as something of an assistant to the game, but his 28 touchdowns that season was to be his record-setting season prior to the time Randy Moss showed up half a decade later. This would also Brady's final season in Madden in which he'd be graded below a 90.

Despite being unable to make the playoffs the year before, Brady would kick off his 2003 campaign by squeezing into the 90+ club in Madden as the only time. This year's Madden game was won by cover star and cheat game Michael Vick, but if you wanted a reliable pocket player, Brady was the best option. In real life, Brady would return to the Super Bowl that season and beat a spirited final quarter to beat the Carolina Panthers, whose Jake Delhomme was being eyed as cheap Madden 22 coins the next Brady. But that was short-lived. In 2003, and despite two Lombardi trophy awards by then yet, nobody knew what level he would set for the bar someday.