This is Tom Brady's 13th year in the NFL.
The Patriots quarterback is currently gearing up for Sunday's Divisional playoff, the ninth such game of his career. New England has won six behind him. The team has won 16 of 22 total postseason contests during his tenure, including three of five Super Bowls. Brady's completion percentage actually goes up as the team goes on, from 58.3 in the Wild-Card rounds to 64.5 on Super Sundays.
It's all par for the course to Josh McDaniels. New England's offensive coordinator knows Brady well enough; he was quarterbacks coach in 2004 before becoming also offensive coordinator in 2006.
Ask McDaniels if there's something different about Brady in the playoffs and he'll tell you not really. Special? Maybe. But that's not different, not to the guys who work with him every day.
"Tom has a great approach and demeanor about his work every day," McDaniels said. "I think that's really a great thing to have as a quarterback -- if you can be consistent with the way you approach your job, how hard you work, the intensity with which you prepare for each opponent. I think generally that sets a great example for your teammates and anybody who's looking at you for leadership in terms of how you would expect them to do their job, too.
"We all get excited when you're in postseason, this is what we play and coach for, is to try to have an opportunity to play in these types of games and coach in these games," McDaniels added. "I'm sure Tom's no different than any other player who's really excited for our opportunity this week. But I think Tom's a pretty consistent guy who has a great approach to doing his job every day as well as he can do it."