GLENDALE, Ariz. - There is a little bit of luck involved in every professional sports dynasty that has been built over the years, including the Patriots, who will be attempting to win their fourth Super Bowl championship in seven years on Sunday.

The luckiest moment in recent franchise history was when the Patriots drafted Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL, in the sixth round, 199th overall, in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Few people thought that Brady would be an NFL franchise quarterback coming out of the University of Michigan. Certainly not as good a quarterback as he is today.

Even though he was an All-Big 10 honorable mention his junior and senior seasons, most NFL scouts didn't know what Brady's NFL potential was, so he fell all the way to the sixth round, and into the Patriots' lap.

On Sept. 23, 2001, in the Patriots' second game of the regular season, as fate would have it, starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe suffered internal bleeding after a collision with Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, and Brady was thrust into the starting lineup.

Brady went 5-2 in his first seven starts, and because the Patriots were 0-2 under Bledsoe and 5-2 with Brady, coach Bill Belichick decided to keep Brady as the starting quarterback for the rest of the season, a controversial move.

Bledsoe was a three-time Pro Bowler (1994, 1996, 1997), and he still holds the franchise record for most completions (2,544) and passing yards (29,657).

But the Patriots were having better success with Brady at the helm in 2001, so Belichick stuck with him, thus beginning what has turned into the Patriots dynasty.

"I'm glad Tom's our quarterback," Belichick said after the Patriots won the 2007 AFC Championship Game. "I love Tom. He's a great player and he's been a great leader for us. He does so many things for our football team on and off the field, and he's been a tremendous competitor, tremendous player.

"[I'm] so privileged to be able to coach him, and have him on our team, and we meet on a regular basis, a couple of times a week and I really - I mean, I enjoy coaching him. He's a terrific player."

Brady was good right from the start.

He led the Patriots to a Super Bowl title in his first year as a starter. As lucky as the Patriots were to select Brady in the 2000 Draft, Brady and Co. were just as lucky to win his first playoff game -- against the Oakland Raiders.

Trailing by three in the closing moments of the fourth quarter on a snow-covered field, Brady lost control of the ball after being hit by a blitzing Charles Woodson, who forced what was initially called a fumble.

Oakland recovered the ball, but, luckily for the Patriots, citing the "tuck rule" which states that any forward-throwing motion by a quarterback begins a pass, referee Walt Coleman overturned the call on instant replay, ruling it an incomplete pass rather than a fumble.

Instead of a game-winning fumble recovery for the Raiders, the Patriots were able to kick a 45-yard field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Driving into a snowstorm in overtime, Brady completed all eight of his passes to set up a 23-yard game-winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri, which helped lay the foundation for the Patriots dynasty as the Patriots won, 16-13.

In Super Bowl XXXVI against the heavily favored Rams, Brady, who was named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player, drove the Patriots offense down the field with less than two minutes to play to set up a game-winning field goal by Vinatieri.

Brady's legend only grew from there.

After throwing for a league-leading 28 touchdowns in 2002, Brady led the Patriots to 21 consecutive victories over the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. He powered the Patriots to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in Super Bowl XXXVIII, where he was named the MVP for the second time of his career, and Super Bowl XXXIX.

Brady finished first in the league with 4,110 passing yards and third in the league with 26 touchdowns during the 2005-06 season.

Last year Brady threw for 3,529 yards and 24 touchdowns despite having almost a completely new receiving corps. The team upgraded the receiving corps before this season, and Brady threw for an NFL-record 50 touchdowns and a franchise single-season record of 4,806 yards (third best in the history of the NFL).

Brady and the Patriots will be going for their fourth Super Bowl victory since 2001 on Sunday.

Brady's teammates say that luck has little to do with all of the NFL and franchise records that Brady has broken in his eight-year NFL career.

They say that his work ethic is why he is the quarterback he is today.

"As far as getting between the lines and going out there and competing, there's no better competitor out there than Tommy. He's proven it," Patriots linebacker Junior Seau said.

"Leadership, character, intensity, toughness, physically and emotionally, you name it, he's got it," running back Heath Evans said.

For Brady, who owns the best record (100-26) as a starter by any NFL quarterback in the Super Bowl era (beginning in 1966), it all began when he was kid growing up watching Joe Montana and Steve Young play at Candlestick Park.

"I remember sitting up 10 rows from the top of Candlestick Park, watching down with binoculars, looking down at Joe Montana and Steve Young, and I was this kid with a dream, and now all of a sudden I'm the one on the field," Brady said.

"To look back on those days and how [my career has] progressed to the point where it's at is extremely fulfilling, and I think the competitive nature of this business is what continues to drive you as an athlete. I look back on those things always with great memories, and I think I always try to focus on the positive because life's too short for all of us and [we] just have to enjoy every day, and especially in whatever anyone does, you've just got to be - just try to truly enjoy what you're doing, and there's no doubt that I do that."