Tom Brady is considered to be one of the best quarterbacks of all time, owing to his innumerable awards and records. But there is one man giving Brady a run for his money - former quarterback Drew Brees.
Both quarterbacks entered the league only a year apart, with Brees getting picked 32nd in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers while Brady was picked 199th in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
Drew Brees has had an illustrious career, spanning two decades, playing for the Chargers from 2001 to 2005, until he was signed by the New Orleans Saints, with whom he continued until the end of his football career. On the other hand, Brady is still going strong, after having played 20 seasons with the Patriots until he was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 21st season.
Both players have been compared time and again but only one can be the greatest quarterback.
Brees Vs Brady Career Stats
Drew Brees leads the record in regular season passing yards, career completion percentage and career pass completions while Tom Brady takes the lead in touchdown passes, games started, completions and passing yards. Brees ranks second in career pass attempts and career touchdown passes. He has also broked a 52-year old record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
| Drew Brees | Tom Brady | Drew Brees | Tom Brady | |
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||
| Games (G) | 287 | 318 | 18 | 47 |
| Games Started (GS) | 286 | 316 | 18 | 47 |
| Pass Completions (COMP) | 7,142 | 7,263 | 481 | 1,165 |
| Attempted Passes (ATT) | 10,551 | 11,317 | 721 | 1,855 |
| Completion Percentage (PCT) | 67.7 | 64.2 | 66.7 | 62.8 |
| Passing Yards (YDS) | 80,358 | 84,520 | 5,366 | 13,049 |
| Average Yards per Game (AVG) | 7.6 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.0 |
| Longest Pass Play (LNG) | 98 | 99 | 88 | 73 |
| Touchdowns (TD) | 571 | 624 | 37 | 86 |
Brees Vs Brady Super Bowls
Drew has won only one Super Bowl in his career, Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, where he led the Saints to a 31-17 victory against the Colts in their first league championship. He was titled Super Bowl MVP as well as Sport Illustrated Sportsman of the Year and AP Male Athlete of the year for his performance - 32 pass completions, 288 throwing yards and 2 touchdowns.
With the highest Super Bowl wins and appearances of any player in league history, Tom Brady has won 7 Super Bowls out of the 10 he appeared in as well as 5 Super Bowl MVPs. He holds 14 Super Bowl records, including most Super Bowl pass attempts (421), pass completions (277), touchdown apsses (21), passing yards (3,039), pass attempts in a single Super Bowl (62), pass completions in a single Super Bowl (43) to name a few.
He is also the oldest player to have played in and won a Super Bowl.
| Drew Brees | Tom Brady | |
| Super Bowl Appearances | 1 (2010) | 10 (2002, 2004-2005, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017-2019, 2021) |
| Super Bowl Wins | 1 (XLIV) | 7 (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI, LIII, LV) |
| Super Bowl MVPs | 1 (XLIV) | 5 (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XLIX, LI, LV) |
Brees Vs Brady Records
Brees holds several NFL records, including highest single-season and single-game completion percentage, most pass completions in a season, most career pass completions, most career passing yards, most touchdown passes in a game and most consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
On the other hand Brady’s list of records is much longer, both in the regular season and the postseason. Some of his NFL records are best touchdown to interception ratio in a season (28:2), most career touchdown passes, most career postseason passing yards and most fourth quarter comebacks (48).
Brees vs. Brady head-to-head
Drew Brees presides over Brady with a 3-2 lead in their head to head matches. However, Tom Brady has been amping it up and has defeated the Saints twice in the 2020 season, followed by another win for Brady in 2021 with the Buccaneers.
Drew Brees vs Tom Brady Matchups
Both quarterbacks have been tough competition for each other, striving to one-up the record in their favor. The quarterbacks have faced off eight times.
Since their first match against each other in 2002, Brees has had the upper hand, having won 6 of the 8 matches against Brady.
In 2002, Brees’ San Diego Chargers defeated the Patriots 21-14 and 41-17 in 2005.
After signing with the Saints, Brees continued his winning streak against Brady, winning 38-17 in 2009.
Brady’s luck finally shone, but not for long - the Patriots defeated the Saints with a close score of 30-27 in 2013 and then again in 2017, Tom led the Patriots to a 36-20 win against Brees.
In 2020, Brees took the reins from Brady, defeated the Patriots twice with a score of 34-23 and 38-3.
Previous season’s hard loss jolted Tom Brady into action and he led his team, now the Buccaneers, to a 30-20 victory over Brees in the latter’s last match of his career.
Also Read: All About Drew Brees' wife, Brittany Brees
Brees vs Brady: Who is the better NFL player?
Both quarterbacks possess the talent, skills and experience to be considered the better NFL player. However, with Brees’ retirement, the path has only become easier for Brady to secure more wins and titles.
Also Read: Tom Brady's contract breakdown
Also Read: Who is Tom Brady's Wife, Gisele Bündchen?
