page_title: Tom Brady
section_title: 2011 season
hierarchical_section_title: Tom Brady / Professional career / New England Patriots / 2011 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Tom Brady, a player on the National Football League. This picture was taken at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, in Denver Colorado, on December 18, 2011, as the Patriots and Broncos were about to play.
context_page_description: Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He spent the first 20 seasons of his career with the New England Patriots, playing in nine Super Bowls and winning six of them, both of which are the most of any player in NFL history. He has won a record four Super Bowl MVP awards as well as three NFL MVP awards. Because of his numerous records and accolades, many sports writers, commentators, and players consider Brady to be the greatest quarterback of all time.
  After playing college football for the University of Michigan, Brady was drafted 199th overall by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. Due to his late selection, Brady is considered the biggest "steal" in the history of the NFL Draft. He went on to become the team's starting quarterback in his second season after an injury to Drew Bledsoe and played for the Patriots for 20 seasons, the NFL record for seasons as quarterback for one team. Following the 2019 season, Brady left New England and signed a two-year deal with the Buccaneers.
  Brady is one of only two quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl in their first season as a starter.
context_section_description: In Week 1 of the 2011 NFL season, Brady threw for a career-high 517 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception in a 38–24 victory over the Miami Dolphins and earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. In the game, he threw a record-tying 99-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker. In the next game, a 35–21 victory over the San Diego Chargers, he had 423 passing yards and three touchdowns to earn another AFC Offensive Player of the Week nod. In Week 16, against the Miami Dolphins, Brady had 304 passing yards and one passing touchdown to go along with nine rushes for 17 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 27–24 victory to earn AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the third time in 2011. In the regular season finale against the Buffalo Bills, Brady became the fourth quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards in a single season, finishing with 5,235; although Brady surpassed Dan Marino's longstanding record of 5,084 passing yards, he finished the season second in passing yards behind Drew Brees' 5,476. The Patriots finished the season 13–3 and clinched the AFC's #1 seed. For his efforts in the 2011 season, Brady was named to the Pro Bowl and was named as the fourth best player in the NFL on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2012 by his peers.
caption: Brady in 2011
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