Can Tom Brady’s records ever be broken? The NFL legend himself doubts it.

Will any quarterback ever be able to surpass the unprecedented career of Tom Brady, or even come close to reaching his spheres?

For the 46-year-old, it’s hard to imagine, as he pointed out on his “Let’s Go” podcast, “You have to do it over a long period of time. I’ve been doing it for a long time. If you look at my career, I was able to compete in virtually every single game every year. Not every game was perfect, but every game was pretty good.”

“When someone lasts as long as I have and is so successful at it, I give them a lot of respect. It would be an incredible accomplishment if anyone could do it,” stressed Brady, who played 23 years in the NFL.

The former star quarterback of the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers holds no less than 17 league records in the regular season and playoffs. He is the record holder in wins (251), completions (7,753), pass attempts (12,050), passing yards (89,214), passing touchdowns (649), Super Bowl appearances (10), Super Bowl wins (seven) and Super Bowl MVP awards (five), among others.

Brady set milestones for the ages, distancing the superstars of his generation and the past by leaps and bounds – or rather, light years.

The only other quarterback ever with at least 80,000 passing yards and 550 passing touchdowns was Drew Brees (80,358 yards, 571 touchdowns).

According to “Bleacher Report,” eight of the 21 other players who participated in at least five Super Bowls were teammates of Brady’s with the New England Patriots.

Can Patrick Mahomes attack Tom Brady’s successes?

Patrick Mahomes is considered the best possible challenger to Brady’s achievements. The Kansas City Chiefs star literally ignited the career turbo and has reached the AFC Championship Game in every year as a starter in the league, including two Super Bowl wins in three appearances.

The 28-year-old is in his seventh season in the NFL, and accordingly still has a long way to go. In some categories, however, he has been able to outperform the presumptive G.O.A.T. so far. In his first 86 starts, Mahomes has racked up over 6,000 more passing yards (25,974 to 19,782) and 70 more passing touchdowns (207 to 137) than Brady in his first 86 starts.

The Chiefs star had a much better start to his career, but Brady was able to maintain his top level like no one else before him over an immensely long period of time, repeatedly proving his critics wrong and winning more titles when he had actually long since been written off.

Mahomes could theoretically break most, if not all, of Brady’s records by the end of his career if he performs consistently as he has so far. His current contract runs until after the 2031 season, when number 15 will “only” be 36 years old.

However, whether he also wants to play until 45 like his great predecessor is written in the stars. “I want to play as long as I can play and have a chance to help the team get better,” Brady’s legitimate successor stressed in September 2022. “Obviously, it’s hard to play until you’re 45, and I don’t want to just be out there hanging around. “