Among many accomplishments in his Hall of Fame career, this one is often overlooked: Tom Brady is one of only eight quarterbacks in NFL history to start 100 consecutive games, and he’s the only quarterback to have two separate 100-start streaks.
Unfortunately for Brady, his current streak of 108 consecutive starts (counting both the regular season and the postseason) will come to an end in Week One, unless he beats the NFL in court and has his Deflategate suspension overturned.
Brady previously had a streak of 128 consecutive starts, which began when he took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 and ended when he took a shot to the knee from Bernard Pollard in 2008. If not for the suspension, Brady would be 20 games away from tying his previous streak, meaning he’d likely do it early in the 2016 season.
Brett Favre, of course, has the longest consecutive starts streak in NFL history, and it’s a record that may never be broken. But for all the talk of football getting more and more dangerous, in reality today’s generation of quarterbacks is staying healthy more consistently than at any other time in NFL history. Here’s a look at the nine different streaks of at least 100 consecutive starts for a quarterback:
321 Brett Favre, 1992-2010
227 Peyton Manning, 1998-2011
178 Eli Manning, 2004-present
153 Philip Rivers, 2006-present
123 Ron Jaworski, 1977-1984
128 Tom Brady, 2001-2008
127 Joe Flacco, 2008-present
110 Joe Ferguson, 1977-1984
108 Tom Brady, 2009-present
Two active quarterbacks can reach the 100-consecutive start club this season: Matt Ryan is currently at 87 straight games started, and Drew Brees is at 88. Brees’s streak is more impressive than it looks, as the last game he missed was a meaningless Week 17 game after the Saints had already clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs at the end of the 2009 season. Prior to that streak ending, Brees had another consecutive starts streak of 82 games, meaning if he had played that Week 17 game in 2009, his current streak would be at 171 consecutive games.
And in the Patriots’ fifth game, Brady can attempt to get started on his third 100-start streak.
