The world was a lot different the first time Tom Brady won a Super Bowl
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Jan 25, 2019, 03:17 IST
Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl back in 2002.
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Since then, the 14-time Pro Bowler has appeared in seven more Super Bowl games and earned a full hand's worth of Super Bowl rings.
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Even though Brady's dominance has remained consistent, the rest of the world has changed considerably since then.
The year of Brady's first Super Bowl win, the average price of gas was $1.36 per gallon.
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George W. Bush was two years into his first term as President of the United States.
He created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later that year.
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And Vice President Dick Cheney had not yet accidentally shot his friend on that infamous hunting trip.
Things were very different in the world of pop culture as well.
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Usher's "U Got It Bad" was the top song on Billboard's Top 100 the week of the Super Bowl.
Ja Rule, Ashanti, and Nelly also dominated the charts that year.
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Eminem's "Lose Yourself" dropped in October of 2002 and topped the charts for eight consecutive weeks to end the year.
"A Beautiful Mind" won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
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Denzel Washington took home the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role for his work in "Training Day."
While Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress from her role in "Monster's Ball," becoming the first African-American woman to win an Oscar in that category.
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"Shrek" won as best animated feature film, but "Monster's Inc." was also nominated.
Some notable movies that came out in 2002 include "Lilo & Stitch," "8 Mile," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," "Ice Age," "Men in Black II," and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."
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The TV lineup was starkly different as well.
"Friends" was still on the air.
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As was "The West Wing."
And "The Bachelor" ran its first season in 2002.
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And so did "American Idol."
And celebrity couples looked very different back then. Brady hadn't even met now-wife Gisele Bundchen yet.
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Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears broke up in 2002, just one year after making waves with their famous denim ensemble.
Ryan Gosling and Sandra Bullock started dating in 2002.
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So did Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, leading to the first mainstream power-couple nickname, "Bennifer."
Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson were all the rage.
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Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt were still together then, too.
And, at that time, so many things that we take for granted today didn't even exist yet.
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Like the original iPhone, which first came out five years later.
And here are what iPods looked like.
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Or Facebook, which debuted as "The Facebook" in 2004.
Some others, courtesy of Jon Erlichman, include: Android, YouTube, MySpace, Instagram, Tesla, Spotify, Skype, Twitter, LinkedIn, Gmail, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Google Maps, iTunes Store, SoundCloud, Nintendo Wii, Dropbox, Hashtags, SpaceX, Reddit, Fitbit, GoPro, and iPad.
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For the record, Business Insider didn't exist then, either. Neither did our predecessor, Silicon Alley Insider.
When Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl, Justin Bieber was 7 years old.
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And so was Jared Goff, the Los Angeles Rams' quarterback who will face Brady in the Super Bowl.
Which reminds us just how different sports were back then, too.
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LeBron James was in high school.
Tiger Woods won the Masters and the U.S. Open, completing a stretch in which he won seven out of 11 majors.
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And Roger Federer was still a year away from winning his first Grand Slam title.
The Anaheim Angels won the World Series.
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And the Los Angeles Lakers swept the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals. Shaquille O'Neal was named finals MVP.
And Rick Nash made his NHL debut.
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The Winter Olympics were hosted in Salt Lake City, Utah that year.
But Shaun White wouldn't make his debut and earn his "Flying Tomato" nickname until four years later.
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There was also a World Cup in 2002. Ronaldinho and Rivaldo led Brazil past Germany in the final.
But through all of the changes of the last 17 years, at least one thing has remained the same.
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Tom Brady is still playing football better than nearly everyone else.
Now check out what happened to Tom Brady's teammates from his first Super Bowl.