Tom Brady's countdown to Canton is well underway.
The legendary quarterback who won seven Super Bowls -- six with the New England Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- will be a no-doubt, first-ballot Hall of Famer when he's eligible in 2028.
That doesn't mean the minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders is done chasing victories.
As a new dawn for the Silver and Black has arrived, Brady underscored that the commitment to winning has already begun in his first offseason as part of team ownership.
"Our goal is to, you know, win a lot of football games," Brady said, via the Raiders’ team website’s Paul Gutierrez. "You've got to work hard at it, and it's all earned, and we've got a tough division. There's a lot of good opponents we face. But it's going to be up to the guys and their daily commitment to doing the right things."
In October of 2024, NFL owners voted in favor of Brady becoming a limited partner of the Raiders. A consummate champion on the field the likes of which the NFL has never seen before or since, Brady has downplayed his involvement in building a hopeful winner for Las Vegas.
"I'm there as a great sounding board for anything they want to do," he said.
As Brady settles in as a minority owner, the Raiders have refaced the franchise.
Pete Carroll and John Spytek have taken over as head coach and general manager, respectively, since the conclusion of a disastrous 4-13 2024 campaign.
The team has a new quarterback in Geno Smith and he's manning the backfield with running back Ashton Jeanty, the 2025 NFL Draft's No. 6 overall pick.
Whether new or old, front office or on the field, the Raiders have a tall task in turning around the franchise's fortunes. They're looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and for just the sixth time this century.
The historic playing career of Brady ran from 2000-2022. In the time he won those aforementioned seven Super Bowls, the Raiders played in just one -- though they memorably lost to him and the Pats in the Tuck Rule Game during the 2001 Divisional Round.
The Raiders are currently amid a 41-season drought without a Super Bowl victory.
So, just how will the self-professed sounding board impact the Raiders' renaissance?
"Well, I'm just a limited partner, so (principal owner) Mark (Davis)'s the boss," Brady said. "And then Pete does his job and Spy does his job and, I think, we trust them to make the right decisions."
So far, the Raiders have made enough right decisions to invigorate the fan base.
As Brady knows better than anyone, though, all that matters is what plays out after kickoff. Nonetheless, he believes the building blocks for a winner have been put into place.
"They've worked together very well, and there's a lot of decisions that are made," Brady said. "Winning games in September starts with what happens in February, March and April, when no one's really watching. They've been hard at work."
