Tom Brady on verge of conference championship start record

When Tom Brady takes the field for Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots quarterback will set an NFL record for the most starts in a conference championship game.

When Tom Brady takes the field for Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots quarterback will set an NFL record for the most starts in a conference championship game.

Tom Brady will set an @NFL record tomorrow with his 9th career Conference
Championship game start. pic.twitter.com/LuTunYAlUf

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 18, 2015

Brady has appeared in eight AFC Championship Games since beginning his career with the Patriots in 2000. New England is 5-3 in those games, but has lost the last two -- in 2013 to the Denver Broncos and in 2012 to the Baltimore Ravens.

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Brady's counterpart on Sunday, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, will be playing in his first AFC Championship Game. Indianapolis lost an AFC Wild Card game in 2012, Luck's rookie season, and a divisional round game in 2013.

If the Patriots defeat the Colts, Brady would also be in line for his sixth start in a Super Bowl, an NFL record. Brady is currently tied with Denver Broncos Hall of Famer John Elway with five Super Bowl appearances.

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Brady made Super Bowl trips in the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2011 seasons, winning in three but losing in the two most recent.

Elway went 2-3 in his Super Bowl appearances in the 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997 and 1998 seasons.

- Mike Fiammetta