The Brady Bunch

Edited to fix several a shitload of typos on Sunday night. 😒

With Tom Brady hanging up his spikes, I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at his EHFL career. He played what, 23 seasons in the NFL? Pretty crazy when you think about it. Full disclosure: I'm not particularly a Brady fan, OTOH... I'm not a Brady hater, either. I've mellowed over the years and I don't get riled up over much when it comes to sports. I consider having watched him play in person to be a privilege. Hard to argue with playing at a high level for over two decades and seven titles.

I was surprised at some of the things I found as I dug back through the years and looked at his time in our league. A few notes: I have a boatload of Hughes League records but some things are lacking, like transactions for a few seasons, and keeper lists for a few others. So I had to make my best guess on a few of these 'how he got here' things. But I do have all the team/player points and who started weekly for all of Brady's time in the league.

What follows is a short blurb on each season of Brady's EHFL career. Below all of that is a chart with his record as a starter as well as his postseason record. I believe that he played on a team or two that made the postseason but for which he made no playoff starts. Those are not reflected in the chart. 

2000: This was Brady's rookie season in the NFL. He wasn't drafted into our league and wasn't claimed at any point. No reason for anyone to take notice as he wasn't a highly touted prospect and was sitting on the Pats' bench behind Drew Bledsoe.

2001: He was passed over in our draft but he took the Pats' starting job and was claimed by Rick in Week 3. (True Fact: Rick dropped Jets WR Anthony Becht to claim Tom Brady.) Brady started for the Giants in Week 7 and had 12 points (2 TDs). He started four more times that season for the Giants, sharing the job with Chris Chandler and Elvis Grbac, Those names will put a little perspective on how long Brady has been around. 

2002: Hogan drafted Brady in the 9th round and he ended up making more starts than Brett Farve who had been a keeper for the Heroes. Brady finished just ahead of Favre in points.

2003: The Giants took Brady first overall in our draft and then took Steve McNair in the 4th round. McNair made nine starts to Brady's four. Rick went to the Hughes Bowl with that combo but lost.

2004: He's listed as a 5th-round pick for the Giants but he might have been a keeper. Either way, he only got two starts (Matt Hasselbeck got most of them) before he is traded to the Flyers for TB RB Micheal Pittman prior to Week 10 and gets four starts to close out the season. 

2005: The Holes take Brady in the 6th round. He got only two starts as Jimmy also had Brees and Eli Manning. How did I beat him in the Hughes Bowl?

2006: He went in Round Three to the Bliz and thus began a long relationship with Paz' club. This season he started nearly every game and was 6th in QB points in the EHFL. He didn't have much help and the Bliz went 4-9.

2007: As a keeper, he led the Bliz to the playoffs (lost in the Semis) and had a monster year as he finished first in scoring, some 60 points ahead of Tony Romo and 90 better than Peyton Manning. 

2008: Once again he was a Bliz keeper. Brady's season ended with an injury in Week One. 

2009: Kept for another year by Paz and Brady was fifth in league QB scoring but they missed the playoffs.

2010: Still a Bliz keeper. Brady was 6th in scoring but only started five games. Paz went with Kyle Orton (you'll have to ask him, I can't explain it). Orton had a nice run for a while but he cratered to end the year and by then the Blizzard was out of the race so it didn't matter who started. 

2011: Brady was 4th in the league in scoring in his sixth season in Boulder. He carried them to the Hughes Bowl but couldn't pull out a win.

2012: This was Brady's seventh consecutive year with the Blizzard. He started all season and was second in points to Drew Brees. The Bliz won their division but were KO'd in the first round of the playoffs.

2013: He was kept again and led the Bliz to the Hughes Bowl. They were crushed by the Bombers but it wasn't Brady's fault... he was the only player they had to score in double digits. 

2014: After seven seasons in Boulder Brady was not kept (Paz opted to draft Drew Brees) and so was drafted by the Flyers in the sixth round. He had a subpar year finishing eighth in scoring among QBs and the rest of the Flyers were just as mediocre and they missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, Paz looked really smart in letting Brady go... he won the title with Brees.

2015: The Holes drafted Russell Wilson in the 4th round and then took Brady in the 7th. Brady ended up taking over as the Holes' starter in Week 5 and he finished 2nd in points in the league. Jimmy's club lost in the Hughes Bowl. 

2016: The Holes kept Brady who missed the first month with an injury. He took the starter's job back immediately from Joe Flacco (who had done very well). Brady had a fine season with the fifth-highest PPG among QBs and led the Holes to a league title. He didn't perform especially well in the postseason but the Holes were very strong and it didn't matter.

2017: The Holes kept Brady and he helped them be the #1 seed with the fourth-highest point total (just a point back of Alex Smith). But that wasn't enough to return to the Hughes Bowl. They were bounced out in the Semifinals.

2018: Brady's time with the Holes was over and he was taken by the Giants in Round Two. He started most of the season but gave up a few starts to Dak Prescott. The Giants squeezed into the playoffs as the #6 seed but lost in the Wild Card round. Brady was 18th in EHFL points.

2019: Brady was drafted by the Bombers in the 10th round and made two starts early in the season but made way for Aaron Rodgers in Week three. At midseason, he was traded back to the Giants for a future 7th-round pick. He made one start as Joliet won the first of three straight titles. The Giants used Jameis Winston and then (once he returned from an injury) Drew Brees as their starter.

2020: Drew Brees was the Giants' keeper but Rick picked up Brady in the sixth round. He started a couple of early season games and then took Brees' starting job. He was back in top form and except for a couple of weeks when Rick started Taysom Hill (Brees was IR'd) he held it through the club's second championship season. Brady was the MVP of the Hughes Bowl with 33 points. 

2021: The Giants cut ties with Brady and he was taken by the Bombers in the 4th round of the draft. He more-or-less alternated with Jalen Hurts as the starter and the Bombers made it to the Wildcard round. Brady got the postseason start. 

2022: For the last time Tom Brady heard his name called in the Ed Hughes League draft. Keith grabbed him in the 7th round and Brady started 10 games in his final season. Let the record show that Brady made his last start in the last regular season game of 2022 and he posted 16 points for the Sticks as they lost to the Strawmenn. His last EHFL victory as a starter came in Week 12 as he put up 20 points and helped the Sticks defeat the Pirates.

Click the chart to enlarge it. There is a bit more Tom Brady trivia below it.

Brady's first EHFL start came in Week 7 of 2001 for the Giants. He put up 12 points (2 TDs) in a 47-46 barnburner of a loss versus the Ridgebacks. Peyton Manning started for Dave and had 13 points. That one additional point that Manning got from an extra-point conversion pass to Edgerrin James proved the difference in our game.

His first win as a starter in our league came in Week 10 of that same 2001 season when he put up a 6-point performance as the Giants downed Attica, 32-12.

Brady was in the lineup for five Hughes Bowl clubs. He won the big game with the Holes in 2016 and the Giants in 2020. 

And that's a look at Tom Brady and his long Hughes League career. He played for seven teams, won 86 of 170 regular season starts, 9 of 17 playoff starts, and was a Hughes Bowl MVP. I wonder if he's as proud of that as he must be of his NFL stuff.