23 things that didn’t exist when Tom Brady entered the NFL: Tesla, Bitcoin, iPhone, social networks, etc.

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Feb 2, 2023

Tom Brady has announced his retirement of the National Football League after 23 seasons in the league.

Brady previously announced his retirement of the league in February 2022 before decide a month later that he would return.

Brady said in his social media retirement video on Wednesday that this time he was giving up playing “for good.”

Brady was the NFL’s oldest player for the 2022-23 season. Drafted 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft on April 6, 2000, a lot has changed since Brady first entered the league.

Here’s a look at 23 things that didn’t exist when Brady joined the NFL.

Cryptocurrency: Main cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD was founded in 2009, following a white paper published the previous year. Bitcoin’s market capitalization is over $400 billion and one of many cryptocurrencies that are now readily available for commerce by consumers, including on the FTX Brady approved app.

Twitter: Social media platform Twitter Inc. was founded in March 2006. Brady has 2.8 million followers on the social media platform from today.

Facebook: The Facebook social media platform, which is owned by Meta Platforms Inc. METAwas founded in 2004, two years after Brady joined the NFL.

Instagram: The photo and video sharing social media platform Instagram, which is owned by Meta Platforms, was launched in 2010. Brady has more than 13 million followers on Instagram, but drags his ex-wife, model Gisele Bundchen at 20.5 million.

iPhone: Now one of the most popular smartphones in the world, the iPhone was only launched in 2007 by Apple Inc. AAPL. Brady couldn’t own an iPhone until his eighth season in the NFL.

Netflix streaming: Now used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, the ability to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix Inc. NFLX wasn’t a reality when Brady joined the league. Netflix was launched in 1998 as a DVD-to-mail service and would later add streaming in 2007.

Amazon Prime: e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. AMZN launched in the 1990s before Brady joined the NFL. The popular Amazon Prime service, which offered free two-day delivery and additional member benefits, was launched in 2005 and is now a staple of the company’s business.

Uber and Lyft: Ride-sharing companies Uber Technologies Inc. UBER and Lyft Inc. LYFT launched in 2009 and 2012, respectively. When Brady needed to get around the NFL in his early years, he was likely tasked with driving himself or finding a taxi, since the two main ride-sharing companies didn’t exist. Again.

Tesla Roadster: In 2008, the electric vehicle giant Tesla Inc. TSLA released its first vehicle with the Tesla Roadster. Two years later, the company went public and has been very successful over the past 12 years for investors.

Houston Texans: The year before Brady joined the NFL, the Cleveland Browns were reinstated as a franchise, bringing the number of NFL teams to 31. In 2002, the Houston Texans became the 32nd team in the league to join as an expansion team. Brady’s career in the NFL predates that of any of the current NFL teams.

Legal sports betting: When Brady joined the league and led the Patriots franchise to many successful seasons and the Super Bowl, consumers could travel to Las Vegas to bet on the success of Brady and the team or take action in offshore operations. illegal. A 2018 ruling gave the power to each state to determine whether it would legalize sports betting.

Spotify: Music streaming platform Spotify Technology AG SQUARE launched in 2006, several years after Brady joined the league and was already winning the Super Bowl.

Lord of the Rings Movies: One of the most successful film franchises of all time is the Lord of the Rings trilogy, with films in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The films have grossed over $1 billion domestically and have all been released after Brady joined the league.

Harry Potter Movies: Similar to the Lord of the Rings movies, the Harry Potter franchise has been hugely successful. The first Harry Potter movie was released in 2001, four years after the book was released and a year after Brady was drafted by the Patriots.

Crocodile: Brand of comfort shoes Crocs, Inc. CROSS was launched in 2002 after Brady joined the NFL.

Youtube: Type “Tom Brady” on YouTube and you’ll get thousands of results for videos ranging from highlights, interviews or commentary on the NFL quarterback. When Brady first joined the NFL, the video platform founded in 2005 and now owned by Alphabet Inc. GOOGGOOGL was not yet a thing.

Roomba: When Brady joined the league and then had millions of dollars to use for furnishings, he couldn’t buy a robot vacuum from iRobot Corporation IRBT just now. The product was introduced in 2002.

American Idol: One of the longest-running reality shows is the “American Idol” singing competition, which premiered on Fox, a unit of Fox Corporation FOX two decades ago. Brady’s NFL career predates the series that launched in 2002.

Call of Duty: While Brady could play the popular Madden NFL video game franchise from Electronic Arts Inc. EA every year of his NFL career, he had to wait a few years for Call of Duty to Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI was playable, with the first game in the popular franchise being released in 2003.

PlayStation 2: Speaking of video games, when Brady entered the NFL, people in North America and Europe could only buy the first PlayStation console at Sony Corp Group SONY. The popular PlayStation 2 wouldn’t be available until October 2000, several months after the draft and shortly after the start of the 2000 NFL season.

Airbnb: Each NFL season, fans of the teams flock to games on the road, often booking hotels in NFL team cities. Another popular option is renting a home through a home rental service. Airbnb Inc. ABNB. The company was launched in 2008.

Yeti: NFL fans who stalked Patriots games in its early seasons had to look for brands other than Yeti Holdings Inc. YETI because the famous cooler and lifestyle brand was only launched in 2006.

Grey’s Anatomy: Brady would probably struggle to find many of the sitcoms he started watching when he started his NFL career that are still on TV today. A show that comes close to, but is even younger than Brady’s NFL career, is “Grey’s Anatomy,” which premiered in 2005.

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