Brady first played organized football as a freshman at San Mateo's Junipero Serra High School, a Catholic all-boys school. By his junior year he was a starting quarterback, and by his senior year he was being noticed by college and pro scouts. During Brady's high school quarterback career, he completed 236 of 447 passes (52.8 percent) for 3,702 yards, and thirty-one touchdowns. The multi-talented Brady was also a star catcher on the school's baseball team, and, when he graduated from high school in 1995, he was recruited to play professional baseball for the Montreal Expos. Instead, he opted to accept a scholarship to play football for the University of Michigan (U of M), in Ann Arbor.

From 2000-2011, Brady went 140-41, passed for 45,264 yards, threw 338 touchdown passes, won 16 playoff games, three of which were Super Bowls. From 2012-2021, he went 138-44, passed for 52,305 yards, threw 372 touchdowns, won 19 playoff games, four of which were Super Bowls.