Tom Brady Retires (For Real This Time) With Perfect 6-0 Record Against Vikings

Tom Brady has retired again — and this time he promises it's for good.

Brady retired a year ago, then changed his mind and returned for another season with the Buccaneers at age 45. Even after playing pretty well and taking Tampa Bay to the playoffs in a bad division, the G.O.A.T. is now calling it a career for real.

That makes it official: the Vikings will go down as the team to play Brady the most times without ever beating him. They would've gotten another crack at Brady in 2023 if he had returned, in what would've been his first regular season game at U.S. Bank Stadium — a building he went 0-1 in with a Super Bowl LII loss to the Eagles.

Instead, they'll face some other Buccaneers quarterback in that game.

Brady didn't play the Vikings all that often during his 22 years as a starter, going 6-0 against them. Five of those wins came with the Patriots, the final one with Tampa. Ironically enough, the Vikings' last win over New England — prior to this year's Thanksgiving night victory — came in Week 3 of the 2000 season, when Brady was a young rookie sixth-round pick backing up Drew Bledsoe.

Two years later, his run against the Vikings began.

Brady was undefeated against three teams in his career, if you include playoff games: the Vikings and the two teams he played for, the Patriots (1-0) and Bucs (4-0). He went 11-1 against the Falcons, losing for the first time in Week 18 of this season. A week later, he lost to the Cowboys for the first time, falling in the divisional round after being 7-0 against Dallas before then. He was also 8-1 against the Jaguars, 6-1 against the Bears and Chargers, and an absurd 33-3 against the Bills.

But the Vikings will forever be the team to lose to Brady the most times without a single win. 

Let's remember those six losses.

Week 12, 2002: Patriots 24, Vikings 17 at Gillette Stadium

The 5-5 Patriots jumped out to an early 21-0 lead against the 3-7 Vikings, with Brady throwing two touchdown passes to Christian Fauria and one to Troy Brown. The Vikings then went on a 17-0 run, as Daunte Culpepper found D'Wayne Bates and Kelly Campbell for touchdown passes. Trying to rally from down seven in the fourth quarter, the Vikings had a missed field goal by Gary Anderson and two turnovers on downs. This was the closest Minnesota would ever get to a win over Brady.

Week 8, 2006: Patriots 31, Vikings 7 at the Metrodome

This was a Brady masterclass on Monday Night Football: 372 yards, four touchdowns, and a pick in a dominant road victory. On the other side, Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger combined for four interceptions and no touchdowns, with the Vikings' only score coming on a Mewelde Moore punt return. The Vikings were 4-2 entering this game but finished 6-10. The Patriots would finish 12-4 and lose a thriller to Peyton Manning and the Colts in the AFC title game.

Week 8, 2010: Patriots 28, Vikings 18 at Gillette Stadium

In the last of three career meetings between Brady and Brett Favre, a 65-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Brandon Tate swung the tide in the third quarter. A Devin McCourty INT against Favre set up the first of two BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushing touchdowns to put the game away late. Favre got knocked out of the game by a hit in the fourth quarter, leaving Tarvaris Jackson to finish it out.

Week 2, 2014: Patriots 30, Vikings 7 at TCF Bank Stadium

Brady didn't have to do a whole lot (149 yards, 1 TD) to help hand Mike Zimmer his first regular season loss as a head coach. The Vikings actually led this game 7-0 on a touchdown pass by former Brady teammate Matt Cassel, but things got out of hand after that. Cassel threw four interceptions — three of which led to Patriots scores — and was sacked six times. Chandler Jones also returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown. New England went on to beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, Brady's fourth of seven titles.

Week 13, 2018: Patriots 24, Vikings 10 at Gillette Stadium

This was a tough loss for the 6-4-1 Vikings, who ended up missing the playoffs in the first year of the Kirk Cousins era. This game is famous for Adam Thielen's verbal spat with Bill Belichick near the Patriots' sideline. A Thielen TD catch and a Dan Bailey field goal made it a 10-10 game, but Brady hit Josh Gordon for a go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter and the Patriots scored on their next possession to go up 14. When an Eric Kendricks interception gave the Vikings a sliver of life in the fourth quarter, Cousins threw the first of two late INTs to end any hopes of a comeback. The Patriots won the Super Bowl again that season, Brady's sixth.

Kendricks and Darren Sharper (2006) are the only Vikings to ever pick off a Brady pass.

Week 14, 2020: Buccaneers 26, Vikings 14 at Raymond James Stadium

This was another game the Vikings, sitting at 6-6, really needed. They scored first on a touchdown run by Dalvin Cook, who had over 100 yards in his home state, but Bailey missed the extra point. On the Vikings' next series, a Ndamukong Suh sack preceded a missed 36-yard field goal by Bailey. Four plays later, Brady hit Scotty Miller for a 48-yard touchdown to take the lead. Bailey missed another field goal on the ensuing possession, and Tampa went up 23-6 early in the third quarter. The Vikings then cut it to 23-14...only for Bailey to miss a third field goal and fourth total kick. He went 0 for 4. The game ended on a Jason Pierre-Paul strip sack, the Bucs' sixth sack of the day. Justin Jefferson had a quiet game with just four catches for 39 yards.

The Vikings, who actually played fairly well in this game in some regards, went on to miss the playoffs.

And guess what? Brady won another Super Bowl that year, his seventh.

He was pretty good at football.

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all offseason long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.