Tom Brady has thrown 300 touchdown passes in his 12 seasons with the Patriots.

Al Tielemans

Different column this week, stretching from Foxboro (Tom Brady) to San Diego out West (Dan Fouts), from an unhappy Dolfan in the Southeast (Daniel Tosh) to Russell Wilson in the Land of Opportunity in the Northwest (Seattle), from a hotel in Oakland to a bar in D.C., from a hockey rink in New York to the busiest building in North America (Staples Center in Los Angeles) ... well, let's just get on with it.

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Last of the (New England) Mohicans, and he's not planning to leave anytime soon.

Matt Light retired the other day. Peyton Manning plays for Denver now. This means that Tom Brady is the lone member of an exclusive club.

Sept. 30, 2001. Ninety players dressed for the first start of Brady's career, against the Indianapolis Colts, at the rickety old Foxboro Stadium on a cloudy and windy Sunday afternoon. Eighty-nine played. And Tom Brady, 34, is the only man who suited up that day who still plays for the Patriots, and one of just two left from that game overall, with Colts long-snapper Justin Snow the other. (Notes for you sticklers: Reggie Wayne was inactive that day, and he still plays for the Colts. Kevin Faulk had 11 touches that day, but he's an unrestricted free agent and doesn't play -- yet -- for the Patriots this year.)

Look at the turnover, less than 11 years after the first start of Brady's career. It's Brady and Bill Belichick against the world now.

"Well,'' Brady said Thursday afternoon, trying to figure out what it meant but not sounding at all surprised about it, "Matt called me a while ago and told me what he was planning to do, and I've called him every week since then trying to talk him out of it. He had such a great year for us. But there was no way I was going to be able to talk him out of it. He'll be a tough player to replace. But, you know, every year in this game, there's a lot of change.''

Except with one guy. One guy living a bicoastal life, married to one of the most famous women in the world, with two kids, and with a coach who's not very concerned with all of that stuff.

Go here to read the rest:
Peter King: Tom Brady's longevity and an inspirational story you have to read