Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady announced his retirement on Wednesday after an unparalleled 23-year NFL career that included seven Super Bowl victories, 15 Pro Bowl selections, five Super Bowl MVP awards and three NFL MVP awards.

If Brady really has hung up his cleats – he retired last year only to return to the Bucs – then his final completion went to Julio Jones for a 12-yard gain in Tampa Bay’s 31-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC playoffs on Jan. 16.

In a way, it gave Brady a full-circle career.

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The quarterback had his first NFL completion on Nov. 23, 2000. With New England getting thrashed by the Detroit Lions 34-9 in its 12th game of the season, Brady took the field for the first time in the NFL on the Patriots’ final possession of the game.

After two incompletions in relief of Drew Bledsoe, Brady connected with running back J.R. Redmond for a 4-yard gain and his first NFL completion. But guard Damien Woody was flagged for being an ineligible receiver down the field, wiping out the play.

On the next snap, Brady threw to tight end Rod Rutledge for a 6-yard gain for his first official NFL completion.

The full-circle component? Rutledge and Jones are Alabama alumni. Picked 13 years apart in the NFL Draft, they also are former Alabama high school stars – Rutledge at Erwin in Center Point and Jones at Foley.

In between his passes to Rutledge and Jones, Brady completed 8,951 passes in 383 regular-season and playoff games.

Only one other Alabama alumnus caught any of those passes. In 2015, Michael Williams caught three passes for 26 yards from Brady for the total receiving stats of his NFL career. Williams also was a prep star in Alabama at Pickens County.

After his single completion in 2000 to Rutledge, Brady became New England’s starting quarterback in 2001 and had three more completions for 25 yards to the tight end. The Patriots capped that season by beating the St. Louis Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI.

That was Rutledge’s final season with the Patriots. He was a member of the Houston Texans’ first season in 2002.

Brady and Jones played together only in the 2022 season. In 10 regular-season games and one playoff contest with the Buccaneers, Jones caught 31 passes for 373 yards and three touchdowns from Brady.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.