Tom Brady has now spent half of his life playing in the NFL

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is so old. "How old is he," you might ask if we were at a comedy club. Brady is officially old enough to say he's spent half of his entire life playing in the NFL.

This is, somehow, true. Brady has spent exactly 8,292 days in the NFL as of Thursday, per the NFL. That equals the amount of time between the day Brady was born and the day he was drafted by the New England Patriots.

That's quite the fact, and puts into context just how long Brady has dominated the league. The fact that he's still this good despite setting records due to his age is incredibly impressive. Brady has thrown for 21 touchdowns and 9 interceptions this season and, despite the team's struggles, has the Buccaneers on the precipice of another playoff appearance. He's 45 years old, by the way.

To really put into context how long Brady has been in the NFL, we thought it would be fun to look back at some of the cultural touchstones from 2000, the year Brady was drafted.

• The No. 1 song in the U.S. on the day of the 2000 NFL draft was "Maria Maria" by Santana.

• The shows "Survivor" and "Big Brother" premiered for the first time.

• Beyoncé was a member of Destiny's Child.

• Shaquille O'Neal won his first, and only, MVP award.

• There were only two "Mission: Impossible" movies.

• Kids spent countless hours playing "The Sims" while on summer vacation.

• The Tennessee Titans lost the Super Bowl to the St. Louis Rams by 1 yard.

Brady doesn't appear to be in a rush to end his NFL journey. After briefly retiring in the offseason, Brady came back for another season with the Buccaneers. He did not commit to retiring following the 2022 NFL season, saying he would take his time before making a decision in the offseason.

If Brady does return, he would be a free agent, and would likely be sought by a number of teams despite his age.