5 Athletes Born Within Days of Tom Brady

Tom Brady was born on August 3, 1977. There are an astonishing number of NFL stars who arrived within weeks of that date — which is half the reason guessing their ages against Brady's is so deceptively hard. Here are the five athletes whose birthdays are closest to Brady's, ranked by total day-difference.

1. Plaxico Burress — 9 days younger

The closest call. Plaxico Burress was born August 12, 1977, just nine days after Brady. The two are forever linked by Super Bowl XLII — Burress caught the game-winning touchdown in the final minute that handed Brady's 18-0 Patriots their only loss of the season. The win-probability twist is iconic; the fact that the receiver who beat Brady was almost exactly his age is a footnote most people miss. See the full comparison.

2. Shaun Alexander — 27 days younger

The 2005 NFL MVP was born August 30, 1977, less than four weeks after Brady. Alexander led the league in rushing touchdowns three years in a row from 2002–2005 and ran for 27 TDs in his MVP season — a record at the time. He and Brady were drafted in the same 2000 class (Alexander 19th overall, Brady 199th).

3. Olin Kreutz — about 8 weeks older

Born June 9, 1977, the longtime Bears center anchored Chicago's offensive line through six Pro Bowls. Kreutz is one of those names where casual fans get the older/younger guess wrong almost every time — he genuinely is older than Brady, just barely.

4. Ricky Williams — about 10 weeks older

The 1998 Heisman Trophy winner was born May 21, 1977. Brady was a backup at Michigan when Ricky was running over Big 12 defenses at Texas; eighteen months later, Brady was getting drafted in the sixth round and Williams was already the face of the Saints' future.

5. Steve Hutchinson — about 13 weeks younger

The Hall of Fame guard was born November 1, 1977, three months after Brady. Hutchinson made seven Pro Bowls between Seattle and Minnesota and was a centerpiece of the early-2000s Seahawks offenses that Shaun Alexander rode to the MVP.

Honorable mentions

Move the window out to a calendar year or so and the list explodes. Randy Moss was born in February 1977. Peyton Manning arrived in March 1976. Outside football, Kobe Bryant was born almost exactly a year after Brady (August 23, 1978), and Roger Federer shares Brady's birthday week — August 8 — but four years later in 1981.

See the full athlete-vs-Brady comparison list for 30 more.