Tom Brady says a perfect season in 2007 would have altered his career

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Tom Brady’s career may have looked a lot different in 2021 if he fulfilled perfection.

In his second season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady – who is 44 years old – leads the NFL with 4,134 yards through the air to go along with 36 passing touchdowns and two rushing scores in 13 games played. 

The Bucs have a 10-3 record and are legitimate contenders to take home another Super Bowl title.

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FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2017, file photo, New England Patriots' Tom Brady raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Atlanta Falcons in overtime at the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game in Houston. Tom Brady is an NFL free agent for the first time in his career. The 42-year-old quarterback with six Super Bowl rings  said Tuesday morning, March 17, 2020, that he is leaving the New England Patriots. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

The reason why Brady still plays? It’s obvious. He’s still chasing greatness.

With that said, Brady recently talked about the 2007 NFL season when he led the New England Patriots to a perfect 16-0 regular-season record before falling to Eli Manning and the New York Giants. The legendary quarterback believes his career would have looked a lot different if the Patriots won that game.

"Had we won that game, I'm not a big hypothetical guy, but maybe the desire is a little bit different if you're looking at [a] silver lining," Brady said in Episode 4 of ESPN's "Man in the Arena" documentary. "Maybe the desire to reach that point, maybe I would have been fulfilled, not to stop playing at that time, but I don't know, maybe I play another seven or eight years and I'm fulfilled.

FILE - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, left, stands with head coach Bill Belichick, right, during an NFL football practice, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in Foxborough, Mass. Without Bill Belichick, Tom Brady won his seventh Super Bowl and is on pace to throw a career-high 53 touchdown passes at age 44. Without Brady under center, Belichick is 54-61 over his career, including 8-11 since the future Hall of Fame quarterback left New England for Tampa Bay. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, file)

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"Maybe not," Brady continued. "But there's not much I can do about it now. Maybe that's the lesson in life. Dealing with what happens, positive [and] negative. You can't change it. You can learn from it and hopefully it can make you a good person and you deal with life in a positive way. And when things don't go your way, appreciate the other people who it goes good for, and then try your hardest to get back there again. 

"And I knew that if I ever won a Super Bowl again, I was going to celebrate the [expletive] out of that one."

Since that 17-14 heartbreaking loss to the Giants, Brady has won four more Super Bowls. Overall, he’s 7-3 in Super Bowls, with two losses to Manning and the Giants. The other came to Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles. However, the first loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl - a six-loss team in the regular season – is the one that sits uneasy with Brady the most.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady warms up before the NFL Super Bowl 52 football game against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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"That game would have defined what that team in NFL history meant to the league, meant to what greatness was," Brady said. "I still think that was the best team I've ever played on, even though we didn't win the Super Bowl. Wasn't the most accomplished team, but it was probably the best team … it was the best team. It was probably the best team in NFL history."