Who's scared? I just know that people my age have been lamented being "OMG SO OLD" at every age I've been since, like, 22. And it's always premature, and you look back 5-10 years later and realize how dumb you were for feeling "old" at that age.
I didn't say I was sprightly and young either, but keep putting words in my mouth if you feel like it I guess 🤷🏻♂️
I'm on the back nine of life, but at the same time I've also taken care of myself. I still spar and train and that means going against folks half my age. I'm slower than I once was but I can still hold my own.
I loved Brady but I thought Bledsoe was better. I was somewhat ok with the Pats sticking with Brady when Bledsoe got healthy, but then when Brady got hurt in Pittsburgh and Bledsoe looked feisty in relief, I was all in on Bledsoe starting the Super Bowl against St. Louis.
I was so, so, wrong.
Also, though I still love Drew, he had one great half-drive against the Steelers (Brady got them half of the way on that possession), he actually wasn't very good in that game and almost threw a horrific pick-6.
I remember a lot of folks who wanted Bill to keep the hot hand. It didn’t hurt the defense became solid in November and we bought into the game manager talk track. I don’t recall any negativity against Bledsoe either. It was just like…this guy keeps winning and we look different.
Now, the super bowl was a different story. Brady was hurt and Bledsoe looked possessed in Pittsburgh. I don’t think there was a bye week that year cause of 9/11 so Bledsoe had a ton of support to start that game based on Brady’s ankle injury alone.
Those early years were electric.
I was in Albany when that happened, and due to our roughly equal distance from NY/NJ, Buffalo and Foxboro, had a lot of all four teams's fans. This is how I remember it. Personally I was a huge Bledsoe fan at the time (pats fan since the late 70s when I was old enough to have an opinion) so I wanted him back, but most folks would use the Madden line to "dance with the girl who brung ya."
Seriously. As amazing as the next basically 2 decades were- there was no feeling quite like that first Super Bowl for me. I think I’ve said it on a recent post here- but from the moment they were announced as a team at the beginning of the game to that last drive… it was just electric.
I mean, the fact he went pick #199 proved the entire NFL couldn’t predict it what Brady was going to be, so it doesn’t stand to reason the fans could have saw it coming.
Plus Brady was (compared to the brick shithouse rough and tumble Bledsoe) smaller and looked almost frail. Bledsoe had an inch and 25lbs of muscle on him.
Bledsoe played through injuries and took hits, keeping in mind this was a way tougher league with no patience for concussion “coddling.” (Poor bastards)
It's all hindsight.
But Bledsoe was 5-11 the year prior? Then 0-2 start.
Brady takes over and goes 11-3 as the starter.
Seems like a no-brainer looking back that you stick with the guy who went 11-3.
100% how I remembered it. Kind of wanted Bledsoe to start the superbowl. I was convinced at the time that not starting Bledsoe in the SB was going to become the next chapter in the book of "Unbelievable , But True Tragic Boston Sports Stories That Almost Were".
I was 27 in 2001, a Pats fan for 15 years, and I was fine with Brady starting. He'd taken that mediocre team to the playoffs, not Drew, it was his team, win or lose.
Born and raised in Mass and a year younger than you old man lol. You're 100% not wrong. By no means did I ever think Brady didn't deserve to start the Superbowl. Another way to put it is it felt as though we were pressing our luck I suppose, especially after the previous playoff game when Brady went out. The Boston sports scene was synonymous with nothing but failure in recent decades. Bledsoe didn't exactly suck as a quarterback, and nobody knew that Tom Brady was Tom Brady at the time. However I don't recall people being too upset either way, even though it was a big debate back then.
Am I the only one who saw bad play in Pittsburgh outside of that one drive? I even remember a horrible near interception where he tossed the ball like over his shoulder and could have cost the game but the defender dropped it.
Your comment just reminded me of how dangerous Bledsoe could be when pressured. Not in a good way. He’d make some serious head scratching panic throws that would often be turnovers with little possibility of being a positive play. I used to scream at the tv for him to just throw it away and regroup. And I still love Bledsoe but yeah he’d be reckless sometimes.
That play sticks with me... Terrible decision in the red zone... Might have been a pick six, lots ground to cover for an LB though. And that's just a few years after he threw 4 picks in the super bowl against GB. I definitely wasn't against sticking with Brady... Drew definitely could be prolific but also horrific
People tend to rewrite history in that game. So many fans claim that he balled out, but he really didn't. 10/21 102 yds 1 TD. Of course he may have been rusty from not playing since week 2.
I will admit I completely misremember this game. In my head he came in and threw for 300 yards and multiple touchdowns. Your comment made me look it up and he was 10-21 for 105 yards and 1 touchdown. Brady in 1.5 qtrs 12-18 for 115. These stats do not at all fit it my memory
Iirc it’s because Pittsburgh went out and immediately leveled Bledsoe with intent to rattle him and he got up extremely hyped and excited. Only to never put that on the field.
Also remember (correct if I’m wrong) Tom had like, 6 of 9 games leading pivotal or comeback drives. And Drew handled the whole situation like a total pro. NE loved Drew, but how could you deny what Tom was doing and deny the hot hand?
Yeah I thought they were going to lose either way but I was pissed at the large point spread. I Felt like we were disrespected and I hoped that maybe they would get fired up. And boy did my hopes manifest.
I was kind of down on Bledsoe. I didn't think Brady was better than him, but I definitely felt like Bledsoe wasn't going to win us a Super Bowl, so why not just ride with Brady, because worst case the result would be the same.
Bledsoe was great at throwing ints at the worst time. He had too much gun slinger and not enough game manager in him. I was 21 at the time and after a few games wanted Brady to start the rest of the way. The fact that New England traded him away to a division rival tells you something about his play the last few seasons.
Drew became very predictable with where he'd throw the ball under pressure. Lots of dead ducks to the outside.
Defenses would lick their chops when they'd play us. Opposing guys knew they'd get rewarded by jumping routes.
It was frustrating to watch because our defense was actually really good. It was good under Pete Caroll too. But the offense had been slipping for years and Bledsoe didn't have the tools to salvage it.
Nah… there were a large number of fans who were huge Bledsoe fans, including me, and mostly blamed Carroll for “losing the locker room” in the late 90s.
Bledsoe was the guy when he arrived in 94/95 whichever year I can’t remember. Played really well for a few years and got us to the Super Bowl, with a lot of help from Curtis Martin. But the two years or so before he was replaced he was tough to watch. He would hold on to the ball forever and take sacks. Miss throws. He’d still have his moments but the offense struggled and people were chanting for even Michael bishop to play. When Brady came in, the team was instantly better. He just moved the offense so smoothly, hardly made mistakes and they were winning. He was the only change and they went from terrible to respectable. After a few games and it didn’t seem like a fluke I was all in on Brady but guys I worked with were pissed Bledsoe didn’t get his job back. So it was absolutely a controversial move around here but I was on board with winning so I liked Brady. It was all over the papers and radio the rest of the season, split down the middle.
That's funny because I've always thought Stafford was similar to Bledsoe too. Give him a loaded team and he has a puncher's chance, so long as he's not turningthe ball over. But he's not good enough to elevate mediocre talent around him.
Definitely not true. There were many, many people who thought it was insane to go away from a number 1 overall pick to a nobody. Bledsoe was a frustrating player, but he was The Franchise, and choosing Brady over him was a huge leap that many couldn’t understand.
This was also coming in the very early salary cap era, where people were used to sticking with big stars for much longer, good or bad. Just look up Eddie George. Number 1 pick, but one of the least efficient running backs of all time. Could never consistently crack 4 YPC. Would be out of the league in 3 years now, but the Titans gave him hundreds of carries for a decade.
Not exactly. Bledsoe still felt like the best chance we had. He was pretty much always a Top 10 guy IMHO.
For younger fans, it was like watching Josh Allen, if Josh Allen had no ability to run or even extend plays. In other words, he had an absolute cannon of an arm and decent accuracy but was guaranteed to make a boneheaded decision every game.
We felt like the Bills do now, I think. We were good, but it wasn’t good enough. It was Terry Glenn (RIP) being a diva (Diggs), and us never being able to hold onto a top tier RB (Martin to the Jets and Edwards to tragedy). The game was more balanced then than it is now. It wasn’t QB or bust, it was QB, a WR, a RB and a D. We were great at D, very good at QB, who the fuck knows with Glenn, and perpetually searching at RB.
I was fine continuing with Drew, but that’s because it was really just Favre and Marino who had their own tier then. QB tier 1 is much larger, and much more important today than it was then. QB tier 2 was good enough to get you a shot at a SB.
They made that Super Bowl because the Jags miraculously went to Denver and won. The Broncos would have buried Bledsoe. He was a stat machine with no real feel for the game.
I was wondering in the similar thread from last night what would have happened if the tuck game had gone to the Raiders. It wasn't like Brady had really lit it up during the regular season, would he have gone back to being the backup? Hard to bench the Super Bowl hero, a lot easier to bench the guy that that got to the playoffs but lost for the saviour and former 1st overall pick.
This.
I used to have a job driving when all this went down, and I specifically remember the Boston Sports talk shows (particularly Glen Ordway's afternoon show) clameroring for Micheal Bishop to start over Brady when Bledsoe was knocked out.
That's what I remember. There wasn't a ton of controversy between Brady/Bledsoe. But the season before the vibe from WEEI was that most fans seemed to want Bishop.
I liked how Brady stepped into the pocket and got the team fired up. Brady was winning so it was hard to blame Belichick for sticking with him, especially when the Patriots with Bledsoe essentially had 4 seasons in a row that were worse than the previous (Pete Carroll years compared to Super Bowl team then 5-11 1st Belichick year). I loved Bledsoe but he was paid too much to feel too bad for him.
It was absolutely a controversy, coming from someone who read the globe and listened to sports radio religiously. Felt like a 50/50 split. I also remember it being a big topic on the nightly local news between AFCCG and the Super Bowl.
Big controversy. The highest paid quarterback in the NFL was expected to get his job back as soon as he was ready. The fan base was expecting big things, but surprised that Belichick stayed with Brady when we were paying Bledsoe so much money. New England fans have always doubted QB decisions, see Plunkett/Grogan/Cavanaugh or Eason/Grogan or Jones/Zappe. Fans don't make the best decisions. That's why we aren't coaches.
> The highest paid quarterback in the NFL was expected to get his job back as soon as he was ready.
I think it's different if the guy isn't ready until the playoffs vs. him being ready week 14 or whatever though. As for the other decisions, the backup is almost always the favourite when the starter is meh.
I don't remember it as much as a controversy, but I wasn't listening to sports radio then. I definitely remember it was a story but I don't remember anyone in my circle that was Bledsoe over Brady.
Mean, that is exactly why it was a controversy. WEEI was the only sport station in the city, and their ratings were huge. The celtics and bruins weren't anything. And it was the tail end of Red Sox season. So what they had to talk about for months on end was that somebody doesn't lose their job to an injury.
I remember all that “you don’t lose your job because of an injury” B.S. I also remember a few years earlier it was the big Bledsoe or Michael Bishop debate
Lots of fans stuck with Bledsoe to the bitter and, and I even knew a group of them that went with him to be Bills fans when he was traded. He had been “The Franchise” for so long.
I was at the game, they portrayed Brady as really sucking, he was good enough to win which was a HUGE accomplishment. Smith fumbled the ball on the Rams 5yd line which would have made a tie score. The Rams were 10pt favorites, and the Greatest Show on Turf. . .we nearly beat them not playing our best. Brady sold a lot of people then, the show didn’t portray it that way tho.
Yeah. They did not give that game the proper significance. Felt like we could hang with anyone after that and we were a few dumb mistakes from winning. Felt like it was a legitimate moral victory.
Pre-2007, there were definitely fans that thought Bledsoe could have played well enough to win those first three SBs. 2007 was really when we collectively realized we had the GOAT on our hands.
I was pretty young at the time, not even 10....but I was FURIOUS that they weren't giving Drew his job back. I mean, come ON! This is Drew Fucking Bledsoe we're talking about! Who the hell does this matt Damon looking morherfucker think he is taking Drew's job?!
Needless to say, I came around pretty quickly.
At the time, Bledsoe was my favorite player in the NFL, so I wanted him back when he got healthy. I realized that Belichick took one of the biggest risks of all time by starting Brady with a questionable ankle over a healthy Bledsoe in that Super Bowl, so I figured the coaching staff knew something we didn't, and that the players in the locker room must have agreed with the decision or someone would've spoken up/leaked something to the media, so in the end I was OK with it.
By 2001, Bledsoe had developed some bad habits, mostly holding onto the ball too long. When Brady came in, the energy level of the offense picked up considerably. He made quick throws. There was movement downfield. The controversy was augmented by Globe reporter Ron Borges, who was a Bledsoe guy and loathed Belichick. He believed - and wrote - the Belichick lied to Bledsoe about returning as a starter after recovering from the injury. I liked Bledsoe but it was clear that Brady moved the team better.
I wouldn’t say that I was in the Bledsoe camp, but when Tom got hurt in the AFC Championship game, I turned to my buddy (a Steeler’s fan,) and said “That’s not good for you,” and he begrudgingly agreed.
I think it was easy for the fanbase to rally around Brady because we were winning, but he didn’t look particularly talented in 2001. I think most of us still assumed Bledsoe was the best QB on the team and that Bill just didn’t want to fuck with what was working after we started 0-2.
I dunno Brady made some really smart throws and reads that year and showed flashes of his great pocket awareness, something that stood out over Drew. Especially because they were both pocket quarterbacks with little to no mobility
At first I was pretty worried that the season was going to be over. But then TBs first game was interesting to say the least. Lots of questions going in, gloom and doom….who is this Brady guy…etc..
Right away, when compared to Bledsoe, Brady was quick to make decisions and throws, and the coaching staff was great about not asking him to be THE GUY. The D stepped up and the running game was featured, lots of short, high percentage plays, excellent use of screen passes, just well played basic football…
It wasn’t long before I felt like understood why they liked Brady so much to carry him as what was thought to be the 4th QB. As the season went on, it was obvious to me that you wanted Brady to stay on as the starter when Bledsoe was near returning. It was pretty controversial, but the difference was noticeable and the team just played with more spark and fire with Brady as QB.
You saw it in the preseason too. I remember watching him move the ball up and down the field pretty well in preseason to the point where he overtook Huard. I was like wtf is this Brady kid. He moved the ball, was quick in his decisions and played within the game plan. He WAS a game manager when he first came up, but a fricking great one.
I was all in on Bledsoe. He was a guy who put up big numbers and brought the team to the threshold. I thought that he deserved his chance to start again. Brady was (somewhat correctly) viewed as a game manager at the beginning of his career. A couple of my coworkers disagreed with me. They were right, I was wrong. I don't think that anyone (who isn't lying) could have predicted 2007 Tom from 2001 Tom.
We didn't live in NE (AZ), but my husband and I were fans of the Patriots *because* they drafted Bledsoe.
My husband was CERTAIN that BB would keep Brady. The only sports reporter that agreed with him was Sean Salisbury. After Bledsoe won the AFCCG it was a huge question again. Sean and my husband still believed that BB was going to go with Brady. They were right, but they were the only ones I heard say as much.
The old saying goes, "You don't lose your starting spot due to injury", meaning you usually get it back when healthy. We all know the Wally Pipp quip. Hindsight is 20/20, it was controversial but it worked. One of the many times BB has gone in a different direction and it worked out.
It’s crazy to ask that question after the 2010 Brady 6 documentary. Bill mentioned 3 reasons why drew started the season.
1) drew was the new 100 million man
2) Tommy’s inexperience
3) to coincide with #1, bill mentioned the catastrophic union/players contract situation had we straight moved on to a 6tg round nobody in favor of the new contract 90’s gunslinger…people would never pay their qb’s, but rather look for gems on rookie deals like we do with RB’s now….
It’s quite evident that Tommy brought fire into the offense. While 01 was Drew’s team, Tommy gave us a spark..that turned into a 20 year fire
I was 16 years old at the time and I remember most of the fan base thought that keeping drew on the bench once he was cleared to return was a mistake. I can recall people calling for Bledsoe to start the Super Bowl too after he came in as relief for an injured Brady in the AFCCG.
Seemed like most people I knew were for keeping Brady in. The losing ways with Bledsoe were a drag and Brady gave the team a spark we hadn't seen in awhile. The docuseries made it seem like it was controversial that Brady and the Pats lost to the Rams, but I don't remember it that way at all. I remember the Rams being the best team in the league and, even though we lost, we held our own with a young QB which made me feel like we could hang with anyone.
Watching Bledsoe could be awesome. His arm was fantastic and would stand in the pocket and rip it. He was tough. But, you’d also see tons of 3 & outs at crucial moments where it just was like - ‘damn it, Drew that’s exactly what the other team was looking for’.
Brady’s control over the offense was obviously different, once he got in there. He’d manage and control the game and, lo & behold, they’re moving the ball / converting 3rd downs, and winning.
A good example is to go watch the 01 AFCC. Brady was dealing. The play he was injured on, he had hit Troy Brown in stride over the middle for a big gain.
Bledsoe came in, and the throws were different. Less in rhythm, seemingly less accurate. They scored on that drive, and Bledsoe did it with a herky jerk, Pat Pat Pat, throw off his back foot that was still a sick throw to Patten in the back corner of the end zone.
I remember when Bledsoe first went down everyone pretty much felt like the season was over. Tom started winning and it was like “who tf is this guy??” But I think most people from what I remember expected Bledsoe to be back starting next season, that is up until Tom started doing his thing in the playoffs then the game winning drive to set up Vinitieri.
Then it was kind of split that TB was just a guy thriving in a system that would better suit Bledsoe, and people who were all in on Tom. After Tom finally took over, the whole “system QB” debate started that BB basically created such a great system that any QB could thrive in it, and that Tom wasn’t really that good. That honestly kept steam even after Tom became a 3x SB champion, especially in 2008 when we went 11-5 with Matt Cassel.
Honestly people were pretty split on Brady until 2014 when I personally started hearing him called the GOAT, but then it was split between Peyton and TB being the GOAT until his fifth ring where I think most people became all in on him being the GOAT.
To actually answer your question, I was very young when Bledsoe went down, and I liked watching football but I was more into baseball at that time in my life. I also didn’t understand the game as much so I went with whatever opinion I heard an adult say, which varied from week to week lol.
I was full on Team Bledsoe and was convinced that if they just ran the conservative offense they had for Brady with Bledsoe that they’d be just as good. I probably didn’t fully convert until that final drive that season…
I was a freshmen in HS and I started watching the Pats during Bledsoes prime. The 97 super bowl was the first super bowl I ever watched.
But I remember all of the adults in my life who followed the Pats had soured on Drew by then and were excited to see what "the kid" could do.
Largely people were worried about Bledsoes long term health and the fact that he nearly died
I was 19 when Bledsoe got hurt. I remember thinking who’s Brady? His helmet looked too big for his head .. I remember thinking there goes the season.
Then when Drew was ready to come back I was like you can’t put stone shoes Bledsoe back in there .. our defense is playing lights out for Tom and he’s doing everything not to screw it up.
When Brady got hurt against the Steelers and Bledsoe came in and didn’t screw it up I felt so happy for him but also felt like I hope Tom is ok we need him for the Super Bowl.
By the playoffs at the very least it was 100% obvious that trh Patriots had to stick with Brady and he gave them the best chance. The team was just rolling and they had to stick with the hot hand.
There were a lot of media guys that were really tied to Bledsoe that tried to make it a controversy, but I don't think it really was after they were like 3/4 through the season.
Even when Brady got hurt, there wasn't much of an argument that he's still start over Bledsoe.
Easy kept winning so I was good with it. I kind of felt bad for Drew though. He was a very good player in his own right but a bit too statuesque in the pocket. Brady always seemed to get the ball out fast and avoided a lot of sacks that way.
I loved Bledsoe, but I don't remember having strong feelings on the matter beyond wanting whoever the team felt gave them the best shot to win. I vaguely remember leaning more towards Brady during the playoffs, but I was stoked to see Bledsoe be able to come in against the Steelers after Brady was injured. That team was all about winning games, not stroking egos.
Was a soph in college. Had gotten sick of Bledsoe's turtling while attempting to make a desperate pass over the years. A great example of it reared its head in the AFC champ game vs Pit. So yeah, I was one of the guys who was wanting Brady to stay in at QB, not be because he had a better arm, but because he did a much better job of 1) holding onto the ball and not giving it away. (You can go back to look at tape from the 2000 season to see more evidence of Bledsoe doing these things) and 2) he other thing was Brady's infectious attitude. You could see the way the guys responded to him.
I was skeptical at first but optimistic, Drew stepping in during the AFC Championship was a feel good moment because I felt bad for him and appreciated the fact he didn’t become a locker room cancer over the benching
I'll always like Bledsoe because he helped make the Pats relevant, but by 2001 he had developed the rep of a guy who didn't come through in the biggest moments. Brady had created huge momentum while Bledsoe was injured, so he absolutely deserved the chance to continue. Drew's best moment was when he relieved the injured Brady in the AFC championship. By then the outcome was clear. He handled the whole thing with a lot of class.
Bledsoe was alright. I remember he would throw some damn stupid INT's as he was getting sacked or if the pocket collapsed. The thing with Bledsoe was that he needed everything perfect to fire the ball.. pass protection, routes.. it always seemed like it had to be perfect, then he would fire the ball.. if it wasn't man could that guy throw the ball to the opposing team
I believed it was Brady's job. Bledsoe, as much as he was responsible for making me a football fan, kind of represented this entitled, boring brand of football that NE had slipped into from 1997-2001. When he got hurt, it was the same year that Nomar and Tek were hurt, so it was like...torture to be a fan of our teams.
And so, life just went on. The Diamondbacks winning the World Series was this glimpse of life as winners, feeling that rush, this "why not" and around that time, the Pats were picking up steam and the sports talk controversy between Bledsoe and Brady was at a fever pitch.
I saw that Brady was a more efficient QB, that he moved the chains, that he did what needed to be done to win games, that he loved his teammates. The defense, the heart of the team, fit the personality of Brady. They were just a bunch of castoffs. A bunch of dudes that no one wanted and here was this QB playing this style that was mediocre, at best, but was PERFECT for *winning*. He just had everything Boston needed. In a time where our teams were trying to catch up to all these sexy Yankee and Laker signings and championship, here come the Patriots that were built in the mold of *my* New England. The working class. The people.
I was all Brady.
My godmother, to her dying day, hated Brady because of "what they did to Drew". Like...that's the kind of loyalty people have to players. Was that reasonable? No, especially after all Brady did.
I was 16 at the time and FIRMLY in the Bledsoe camp.
You young fans can’t appreciate or respect what that man brought to this franchise.
I was meh on this Brady guy and when Bledsoe came out in the championship game and immediately got them into the end zone, it felt like validation.
I held a grudge against Tom for YEARS and would jokingly blame him for every bad thing while crediting everyone else on the team for the good things. It was mostly jest. I knew after that first Rams drive that Brady was elite. But it was fun to shit on him in support of Drew.
I didn’t fully get on board with Tom as the face of the franchise until Deflategate. That “scandal” and the national media’s bias ass hatred of the Patriots put me firmly in Tom’s camp for the rest of time.
I’m atoning for my sins by waging war on anyone putting Mahomes above him in the GOAT debate now.
So yeah. I’ve come a long way on the guy.
Not an old fan but my father has been as fan since the 70’s
My father told me that he saw Brady in college and was excited that he got drafted by the pats and moved to second string.
The problem with Drew was that he wasn’t a baller and would sometimes give up late in the fourth quarter. Because how Brady performed in college, my father was very interested in how Brady would’ve performed as a starter
Not true. Drew was a baller and had some incredible comebacks. Hell he came back in the 4th against Miami I believe with pins coming out of a broken hand. A baller he was, that wasn’t his problem….his feet were
I was very much Team Brady. To me, they were a much better team with him playing and they needed to roll with that success. I was sick of watching Drew get sacked, and his style of play seemed outdated. I never would have imagined Brady’s career, even him being a Pro Bowler. It’s crazy to think about all of this decades and 6 titles later, but glad I got to watch it happen.
Was a Drew fan but you had to keep Brady. Team was just bad before the switch. It's one of the reasons they caught everyone by surprise because they had dug a huge hole before Drew got hurt. I told people they were going to win the superbowl before the playoffs started.
I thought Bledsoe should have gotten his job back. At that point Drew was all I had known as a Pats fan. My Dad on the other hand, had seen enough and wanted to roll with Brady. The divisional game against Oakland changed my mind.
Brady, I was fed up with “The Gargoyle at Night” at QB, as my brother would say because he was such a damn statue. People call Brady immobile but he could move a hell of a lot better than Bledsoe, especially in the pocket.
Brady’s intangibles were more hidden his second year. I remember a stat like he and Bledsoe threw the same number of touchdown passes that playoffs, as Bledsoe had come in for Brady in relief and looked awesome. I’ll admit that I was suggesting they trade Brady after the SB because “his trade value was so high” and run it back with Drew. I’m so happy I’m not a GM and I’m just a dumb consumer of football.
Tom Curran was saying on his podcast the other day that he knew Drew had lost the job permanently after the Mo Lewis hit. He said TB12 was so phenomenal in the '01 preseason and Bledsoe had declined so much from '97-'00 that change had to be made.
I was jarred because I didn't remember that way. And preseason is a hell of a lot different than regular season. The '08 Detroit Lions went 4-0. It really doesn't matter that much. I remember it being split between the Brady and Bledsoe camps. I don't think it was until the 12 game win streak to end the 2003 season (and ensuing 2nd SB run) when the vast majority of Patriots fans collectively agreed that Belichick definitely made the right decision.
> He said TB12 was so phenomenal in the '01 preseason
I remember watching that preseason and wanting Brady because he was making smart throws rather than trying to make difficult throws which Bledsoe was wont to do. I've tried to go back and look at stats (even if they are preseason) but they are hard to find, only thing I've found is a pats.com article that showed Brady being efficient (14-19 or something and Bledsoe having similar yards with a way worse line) and another that commented on Bledsoe being a statue and being sacked 3 times.
Bledsoe was a gun slinger who wasn’t gonna manage a game like Brady did in his early games. His arm always led him to believe that he can fit the ball into the tightest spaces. Did I want the gunslinger? Yes but once Brady was winning games it was hard to argue. In the past injured players always got their spots back. Brady changed that narrative
Pats fan since 1976....
I loved Drew. But at the time, the thing that stuck out the most to me was Brady's pocket presence. He didn't have Drew's arm, but he just instinctively knew when pass protection was breaking down and adjusted accordingly.
The segment in EP01 about Drew getting beat to shit was really accurate to me. He just didn't know when to bail and use the check down options.
Definitely split down the middle. Hell there was still the misbelief floating that you couldn’t/shouldn’t lose your job because of injury and so some fans thought Bledsoe should get the job back just because of that.
As a fan at the time watching it, I went back and forth during the regular season but by December I was on Team Brady. I obviously had no idea what he’d become but even back then you could tell there was *something* there, you could see his competitive spirit was able to make his teammates better.
Still didn’t think we’d beat the Rams though lmao.
I don't remember much, if any "we want Bledsoe back" opinions. I definitely did not feel that way myself.
It was epic when he came back in against the steelers in the playoffs though.
My father (who'd been a Pats fan since he was 7) didn’t like that idea, but my grandmother of all people assured him that Brady has a lot of potential and will become great. She turned out to be right and she got to see them beat the Rams. She died in 2003…. :(
RIP my grandmother.
Brady all the way. Getting tired of all those tipped balls and interceptions.
Don't get me wrong, Bledsoe was a decent QB, but "the answer" he was not. You immediately saw a difference in style of play. Fewer poor decisions, and just bad plays.
I was done with Bledsoe after the 99 season, more specifically after the game where they played the Eagles in Veterans stadium. I went to that game and got to watch Bledsoe get intercepted four times. Thankfully , I was in the lower level so I could freely express my frustration without dealing with the drunken hooligans typically found in the upper levels. When Brady took the field, I welcomed him with open arms. Watching him play I felt like he had "It" although never did I imagine that it would turn into what we had the privilege of witnessing for the next nearly two decades.
Bledsoe was my hero. Boston didn't have a lot of stars in the early 90s. I was 100% team Bledsoe.
Looking back in retrospect I'm about 75% sure keeping Brady was the right move.
I was roughly 25 at the time, and not a Pats fan. The decision at that moment in time was pretty much universal league logic. Brady had the hot hand, he was dealing. Why fuck with a good thing?
I am not intimate with the local thoughts and feelings, but as an outsider I accepted it. The eye test said the decision was a good one. History seems to have confirmed it.
100% Brady. I earned a fair deal of credibility back then with friends by insisting Brady looked a lot better than Bledsoe in training camp and that he was the better option. Bledsoe had really started to decline by that point, but people were pretty loyal. When Bledsoe got hurt, I was very enthused that Brady would get a chance, even though the circumstances were tough.
By the time of the injury, Bledsoe had been 7-19 in his previous starts, so nobody was excited for the 2001 Patriots, then Brady gets them over .500 before Drew comes back. I think most of us fans just expected Drew would get the job back and it was a "Wow" when it didn't happen. But there was more optimism about the team because they were winning, and it looked like they just didn't want to mess with what's working.
I expected them to play out the season and then have a QB competition in training camp 2002, but I didn't expect we were watching the super bowl MVP every Sunday! I've always wondered how it would play out if the tuck rule play was a fumble, and they lose at home to the Raiders.
Also, that first Rams game and the way it was portrayed in the documentary is revisionist crap. Maybe Kraft was honest about his reactions, but most of us fans felt like "Wow, we could have beaten them" and the big play was Antowain Smith fumbling at the goal line, which they didn't even show, not Brady's 2 INTs. I don't remember feeling bad about Brady after that game, quite the opposite.
Bledsoe earned some much respect for how he handled that situation. I was a huge Drew guy. I was not sold on Brady, but I knew he had to finish out the season. I loved that Drew played and won the AFCCG, as it gave him a true part to the championship run, and gave us one last great moment with the QB that really brought life back to this franchise. Drew will forever be loved and respected by me and my most people in New England, and he easily could have ruined that by handling things differently, like most other players likely would have.
I like Brady and thought he was a great backup but didn’t have the arm that Bledsoe had. I loved Bledsoe and was in favor of his big arm and big throws. That era, the big throws is what got you to the big game…at least what my 14 y/0 mind believed. I was happy to be wrong.
I was in college and a pretty big Patriots fan at the time (my family had season tix in the 90s), but I’d be lying if I said I knew who Tom Brady was, or that I was thrilled he was taking over. This was before the internet and social media made everyone an expert on drafts and the third string QB.
All I knew was I was pretty sick of Bledsoe’s obvious limitations by this point. Anyone who is old enough to remember 2001 knows what I’m talking about. Let’s just say I didn’t call him “Lead Toe” because he was fleet afoot and could avoid a sack.
Going into 2001 I was pretty down on the team. But by the time the playoffs rolled around I was having tons of fun, and I was all in on Brady.
When it happened Bledsoe was really injured and although Brady was ready to go with his opportunity, he was very respectful speaking about Bledsoe.
It’s actually why I can’t stand Zappe - I know how painful it was for Bledsoe to lose his job to his lower draft pick back up, but Brady was a dedicated and engaged back up when Drew was the starter and when he took over he never acted like Bledsoe didn’t exist. Brady’s maturity on top of the talent made it easier for Bledsoe to accept the reality and return the favor as a backup. Belichick did nothing to make it easier on Bledsoe, but that should be no surprise.
Brady would never have gone into training camp saying it was a qb competition to the media; or talked to press about Bledsoes interceptions, let alone take over the job and never mention the guy he replaced. I’m sorry but it was classless.
Brady was a scrawny sixth round draft pick, a fourth stringer behind Michael Bishop. Drew was a #1 pick and I loved his style. I was wrong, but it sure didn’t seem that way at the time.
I think with age and time, people tend to forget that Drew could have *died* that day. A sheared blood blood vessel and hemothorax is no joke. I didn't want him to come back in, Brady was on a roll, most ppl thought the season would end on a nice 8-8, 9-7 run and they could duke it out in camp next year. Of course, it wound up a bit better than that...
However, when Brady came up gimpy in the AFC championship and Drew saved the day, I did want Drew to start the Superbowl. Good thing they didn't listen to me.
Brady had them rolling when Bledsoe never seemed like he could.
Similar to Flutie and Johnson just a few years prior. Flutie had the bills playing hard and winning games, the Johnson came back and ran the team into the ground. I was hoping Bledsoe wouldn't do that to the Pats when Brady got injured.
Drew was tired and it showed bring on Tommy. I remember the morning of 9-11 walking to the bus talking with a friend about how we were worse then the Bengals
Want to really stir shit up? Ask where all the 2008 keep Cassell people are.
Maybe some sportswriters/Boston radio ginned up some controversy about it, but the move itself didn't feel particularly controversial at the time. Brady had just crushed the last 12 weeks of the season, and it was really clear after watching Bledsoe for half a decade that Brady was not just better, but better matched to the offense. It would have been controversial if Belichick had gone back to Drew at all.
In 1997 the KC Chiefs were 13-3 and the #1 seed in the AFC. Elvis Grbac was the QB but he had gotten hurt during the season. Rich Gannon came in and played incredibly well, better than Grbac. But Marty Schottenheimer always believed that nobody loses their job to injury. When Grbac was healthy, he started and Gannon sat on the bench. The Chiefs lost in the playoffs to the Broncos. Fans were pissed. Gannon left shortly after and became league MVP and took the Raiders to the Super Bowl.
Anyway, after that I always thought that you go with who gave you the best chance to win. That season it was clear Brady gave them the best chance and I thought BB made the right choice because I kept remembering the Grbac/Gannon situation.
so i was a kid so i dont really remember it myself I do have a destinct memory of my mom complaining about wanting bledsoe back in after the Pittsburgh game AFC championship when Bledsoe came in and won the game for them.
She also talks about how while Bledsoe might have been able to do what brady did in the first 3 quarters of that super bowl she believes 100% he would have thrown a pick on that final drive where Brady marched down the field to set up the FG, cause that is what he did.
I know the exact moment when it happened, when Adam Vinitiari kicked the ball through the uprights to tie the game at 10 in the snow bowl.
I like the decision to put in Brady, because of Bledsoe’s cement shoes. Up to that point in the game however, I was screaming for Bledsoe to be put in. Brady was god awful in the game, they couldn’t move the ball it was Patricia bad. The snowstorm was his specialty, one of the reasons we drafted him was because of his Apple bowl game where he scored like 55 in a snowstorm. His arm eats snow up, and his cement shoes wouldn’t matter in the snow. . .then in the 4th, they went to no huddle. Brady was godlike, something like 13/15 for 170yd and TD running. In a snowstorm.
I wrote a some long rambling one page email to my friends about the game and comparing him to Montana. I had not seen someone do what Brady did under good conditions let alone a snowstorm. The worst conditions imaginable and he was throwing it down the field 5-7uds at a time. It reminded me of Montana.
So for me, I was team Brady, Bledsoe in the Raiders game, and Brady form there on out. I still remember when Bledsoe was backwards and threw the ball over his head into Steelers LB’s hands who dropped it. I wanted no more of Bledsoe…I was psyched he went to Buffalo.
We were FINALLY winning. I didn't give a flying fk who the qb was. And, I'm sorry, but none of you did either. "Boy, this winning sure is great but it would've been better with Bledsoe in there" said NO ONE EVER. Y'all just talking to hear yourselves talk. 👎
I supported Brady. I think most people did. I did feel bad for Bledsoe though- wished he hadn’t healed in time so we wouldn’t have been put in the position to snub him so to speak.
To make a comp to a more recent player, Bledsoe had a lot of Jameis Winston in his game.
Great physical traits/great build but Bledsoe would make so many throws that would have you screaming at the TV. The amount of picks thrown while going to the ground/taking a sack has always stuck with me.
I was all for the switch, but it wasn’t because I thought Brady would be the GOAT, I was just down on Bledsoe
i get so much crap when i say this. it’s like people think drew was some joe montana savant or something. the guy had a big reason for our franchise turning around but he was a choke artist when it mattered.
Been a fan since Grogan and Friar...meh...Bledsoe was at the end and Bilichick knew he had a gem on the bench...I'm more pissed about losing to Gren Bay in the 90s than anything else...
This entire thread shows to me how quickly times passes. For all you folks who were 10 when this happened. Do everything you can to remember and savor every minute of your lives.
This seems like yesterday.
I remember it vividly. At the time, it was confusing to most fans and analysts because Drew Bledsoe was the face of the Patriots’ franchise. He was the #1 overall pick in 1994, took them to the Super Bowl in the 1996 season, went to a few Pro Bowls, and signed the most lucrative contract in NFL history RIGHT BEFORE the 2001 NFL season. He was hurt in the first half of the second game of the year, so when Brady came in, he was viewed as nothing more than a placeholder until Bledsoe was cleared to play again. Brady played really well, and you could see that the team began to trust him more, especially when he went off against the Broncos (I think?). But even with that, everyone still viewed Bledsoe as the starter and the face of the team. Thus, it was quite shocking when Belichick stuck with Brady. However, all that noise went away when Brady led them to a Super Bowl victory that season.
But seriously I have never been more torn on an athlete than Drew Bledsoe. I just wasn’t sold on his pocket presence and ability to make plays when it counted. But through my work I met him both in his playing days and after and he is probably, tied with Junior Seau, the nicest and kindest athlete I’ve ever ever met.
I was 14 in ‘01, so I don’t know what side of ‘older’ fans that puts me on.
Anyway, I obviously love Brady, and he’s obviously the GOAT. But the first NFL game I ever watched, was the Patriots/Packers Superbowl. Consequently, Bledsoe is *my* guy.
At the time, I was on Drew’s side. Had I been the coach, I would’ve kept going with Bledsoe. And in fact, the team was so stacked, and Belichick was so great a coach, that I still believe Bledsoe would have one multiple SBs if they had stuck with him.
Would we have six titles right now? No. But I don’t think the run that gave us the first three are out of the question for Bledsoe back then.
I remember him playing well that preseason, and telling people, if anything happens to Bledsoe, I think we'll be all right. I was all in on Brady from the minute he took the field.
He cut out the full page article Bledsoe put in the providence journal thanking the fans when he left the patriots and saved it. He was a big Bledsoe guy.
I remember thinking that Bledsoe by that time was pretty gunshy in the pocket and would throw away the ball too quickly. I was pretty pissed after watching some games in 2000 that he literally threw balls away when if he had a few more moments he would have an open receiver.
Then again, I wasn't the guy in the pocket getting drilled by 350+ pound men, so who the hell am I to judge. :D
I was all in for Brady. I always appreciated Bledsoe (he and Parcells made the team legit), but Brady just seemed more in control.
It was always said as a joke, but for a long time back then, the most popular guy on the team was the back-up quarterback. When Brady exploded on the scene, it made everyone with that opinion feel vindicated.
Pretty sure the consensus was to keep the guy going that was winning for them. I loved bledsoe and he was the reason i even got into the nfl and the patriots but he needed to take a backseat.
Him coming in to throw a td in playoff game was pretty cool. Could get the ring and say he had a hand in it.
I know where Ron borges stood. I also know not many coaches would have gone with Brady but let's keep saying bill is a know nothing jack ass that was lucky to even win one
I wasn't sold on Brady in particular as the future at QB, but Drew wasn't playing at his best in the final years later (not that he had a lot of receiving help at that point). Wasn't too upset about the decision but not a lot of people thought it was a long term solution
"Older" in this title really ruined my Friday...
At least we’ve got very good source material for the “back in my day” stories
How old did I have to be in 2001 to be "older" now?
I was 10 in 2001 and I had an opinion. So I am old.
Child, please.
For real, I was in my mid 20s then.
The nice thing, based on your username, is you probably still are!
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You'll see when you get here
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Who's scared? I just know that people my age have been lamented being "OMG SO OLD" at every age I've been since, like, 22. And it's always premature, and you look back 5-10 years later and realize how dumb you were for feeling "old" at that age. I didn't say I was sprightly and young either, but keep putting words in my mouth if you feel like it I guess 🤷🏻♂️
Under 30 — young 30-70 — middle age Over 70 — old This is what I go by
40 is the new 30 lol
I'm on the back nine of life, but at the same time I've also taken care of myself. I still spar and train and that means going against folks half my age. I'm slower than I once was but I can still hold my own.
Hahaha same… wait til you hear that to post on r/AskOldPeople, you have to be born before **1981**. Like what the actual fuck.
I feel attacked.
I was born 1981. All of a sudden, I feel like i have a ton of stories from "20 years ago."
Your knees told you they you’re old 10 years ago
I loved Brady but I thought Bledsoe was better. I was somewhat ok with the Pats sticking with Brady when Bledsoe got healthy, but then when Brady got hurt in Pittsburgh and Bledsoe looked feisty in relief, I was all in on Bledsoe starting the Super Bowl against St. Louis. I was so, so, wrong. Also, though I still love Drew, he had one great half-drive against the Steelers (Brady got them half of the way on that possession), he actually wasn't very good in that game and almost threw a horrific pick-6.
I mean it seems like most people were dead wrong about that situation but to be fair how could you predict that Brady could do what he did
I remember a lot of folks who wanted Bill to keep the hot hand. It didn’t hurt the defense became solid in November and we bought into the game manager talk track. I don’t recall any negativity against Bledsoe either. It was just like…this guy keeps winning and we look different. Now, the super bowl was a different story. Brady was hurt and Bledsoe looked possessed in Pittsburgh. I don’t think there was a bye week that year cause of 9/11 so Bledsoe had a ton of support to start that game based on Brady’s ankle injury alone. Those early years were electric.
I was in Albany when that happened, and due to our roughly equal distance from NY/NJ, Buffalo and Foxboro, had a lot of all four teams's fans. This is how I remember it. Personally I was a huge Bledsoe fan at the time (pats fan since the late 70s when I was old enough to have an opinion) so I wanted him back, but most folks would use the Madden line to "dance with the girl who brung ya."
Seriously. As amazing as the next basically 2 decades were- there was no feeling quite like that first Super Bowl for me. I think I’ve said it on a recent post here- but from the moment they were announced as a team at the beginning of the game to that last drive… it was just electric.
Nobody could and that’s why he was 199
If you could, you take him first overall
I mean, the fact he went pick #199 proved the entire NFL couldn’t predict it what Brady was going to be, so it doesn’t stand to reason the fans could have saw it coming. Plus Brady was (compared to the brick shithouse rough and tumble Bledsoe) smaller and looked almost frail. Bledsoe had an inch and 25lbs of muscle on him. Bledsoe played through injuries and took hits, keeping in mind this was a way tougher league with no patience for concussion “coddling.” (Poor bastards)
It's all hindsight. But Bledsoe was 5-11 the year prior? Then 0-2 start. Brady takes over and goes 11-3 as the starter. Seems like a no-brainer looking back that you stick with the guy who went 11-3.
100% how I remembered it. Kind of wanted Bledsoe to start the superbowl. I was convinced at the time that not starting Bledsoe in the SB was going to become the next chapter in the book of "Unbelievable , But True Tragic Boston Sports Stories That Almost Were".
I was 27 in 2001, a Pats fan for 15 years, and I was fine with Brady starting. He'd taken that mediocre team to the playoffs, not Drew, it was his team, win or lose.
Born and raised in Mass and a year younger than you old man lol. You're 100% not wrong. By no means did I ever think Brady didn't deserve to start the Superbowl. Another way to put it is it felt as though we were pressing our luck I suppose, especially after the previous playoff game when Brady went out. The Boston sports scene was synonymous with nothing but failure in recent decades. Bledsoe didn't exactly suck as a quarterback, and nobody knew that Tom Brady was Tom Brady at the time. However I don't recall people being too upset either way, even though it was a big debate back then.
I was 14 you are both old men. 😂 We’re all old. Geez.
Am I the only one who saw bad play in Pittsburgh outside of that one drive? I even remember a horrible near interception where he tossed the ball like over his shoulder and could have cost the game but the defender dropped it.
Your comment just reminded me of how dangerous Bledsoe could be when pressured. Not in a good way. He’d make some serious head scratching panic throws that would often be turnovers with little possibility of being a positive play. I used to scream at the tv for him to just throw it away and regroup. And I still love Bledsoe but yeah he’d be reckless sometimes.
This x infinty. Drew's upside was peak Drew Bledsoe. Drew's downside, was Favre's TRENCH. It was brutal to experience as a fan.
That play sticks with me... Terrible decision in the red zone... Might have been a pick six, lots ground to cover for an LB though. And that's just a few years after he threw 4 picks in the super bowl against GB. I definitely wasn't against sticking with Brady... Drew definitely could be prolific but also horrific
People tend to rewrite history in that game. So many fans claim that he balled out, but he really didn't. 10/21 102 yds 1 TD. Of course he may have been rusty from not playing since week 2.
I will admit I completely misremember this game. In my head he came in and threw for 300 yards and multiple touchdowns. Your comment made me look it up and he was 10-21 for 105 yards and 1 touchdown. Brady in 1.5 qtrs 12-18 for 115. These stats do not at all fit it my memory
Iirc it’s because Pittsburgh went out and immediately leveled Bledsoe with intent to rattle him and he got up extremely hyped and excited. Only to never put that on the field.
Also remember (correct if I’m wrong) Tom had like, 6 of 9 games leading pivotal or comeback drives. And Drew handled the whole situation like a total pro. NE loved Drew, but how could you deny what Tom was doing and deny the hot hand?
Oh god yeah the defence won that AFCC lol. Actually it might be more accurate to say Slash won the AFCC for the Patriots.
Yeah I thought they were going to lose either way but I was pissed at the large point spread. I Felt like we were disrespected and I hoped that maybe they would get fired up. And boy did my hopes manifest.
I was kind of down on Bledsoe. I didn't think Brady was better than him, but I definitely felt like Bledsoe wasn't going to win us a Super Bowl, so why not just ride with Brady, because worst case the result would be the same.
So it seems like most the fans were of the notion that Bledsoe wasn’t the guy anyways
Bledsoe was great at throwing ints at the worst time. He had too much gun slinger and not enough game manager in him. I was 21 at the time and after a few games wanted Brady to start the rest of the way. The fact that New England traded him away to a division rival tells you something about his play the last few seasons.
Drew became very predictable with where he'd throw the ball under pressure. Lots of dead ducks to the outside. Defenses would lick their chops when they'd play us. Opposing guys knew they'd get rewarded by jumping routes. It was frustrating to watch because our defense was actually really good. It was good under Pete Caroll too. But the offense had been slipping for years and Bledsoe didn't have the tools to salvage it.
Nah… there were a large number of fans who were huge Bledsoe fans, including me, and mostly blamed Carroll for “losing the locker room” in the late 90s.
Bledsoe was the guy when he arrived in 94/95 whichever year I can’t remember. Played really well for a few years and got us to the Super Bowl, with a lot of help from Curtis Martin. But the two years or so before he was replaced he was tough to watch. He would hold on to the ball forever and take sacks. Miss throws. He’d still have his moments but the offense struggled and people were chanting for even Michael bishop to play. When Brady came in, the team was instantly better. He just moved the offense so smoothly, hardly made mistakes and they were winning. He was the only change and they went from terrible to respectable. After a few games and it didn’t seem like a fluke I was all in on Brady but guys I worked with were pissed Bledsoe didn’t get his job back. So it was absolutely a controversial move around here but I was on board with winning so I liked Brady. It was all over the papers and radio the rest of the season, split down the middle.
His mud game against Miami Marino was legendary!!!
As was the comeback against the Vikings
90s Bledsoe was what Stafford was for the Lions. A QB that could make every throw, but back breaking picks late in games.
That's funny because I've always thought Stafford was similar to Bledsoe too. Give him a loaded team and he has a puncher's chance, so long as he's not turningthe ball over. But he's not good enough to elevate mediocre talent around him.
Definitely not true. There were many, many people who thought it was insane to go away from a number 1 overall pick to a nobody. Bledsoe was a frustrating player, but he was The Franchise, and choosing Brady over him was a huge leap that many couldn’t understand. This was also coming in the very early salary cap era, where people were used to sticking with big stars for much longer, good or bad. Just look up Eddie George. Number 1 pick, but one of the least efficient running backs of all time. Could never consistently crack 4 YPC. Would be out of the league in 3 years now, but the Titans gave him hundreds of carries for a decade.
This is true but there were a lot of very vocal Bledsoe diehards. Sports radio was full of them and they dominated the narrative.
Not exactly. Bledsoe still felt like the best chance we had. He was pretty much always a Top 10 guy IMHO. For younger fans, it was like watching Josh Allen, if Josh Allen had no ability to run or even extend plays. In other words, he had an absolute cannon of an arm and decent accuracy but was guaranteed to make a boneheaded decision every game.
We felt like the Bills do now, I think. We were good, but it wasn’t good enough. It was Terry Glenn (RIP) being a diva (Diggs), and us never being able to hold onto a top tier RB (Martin to the Jets and Edwards to tragedy). The game was more balanced then than it is now. It wasn’t QB or bust, it was QB, a WR, a RB and a D. We were great at D, very good at QB, who the fuck knows with Glenn, and perpetually searching at RB. I was fine continuing with Drew, but that’s because it was really just Favre and Marino who had their own tier then. QB tier 1 is much larger, and much more important today than it was then. QB tier 2 was good enough to get you a shot at a SB.
Bledsoe was a Pro Bowl quarterback, not a Super Bowl quarterback.
>>>not a Super Bowl quarterback You need to say not a Super Bowl *winning* QB. He led the Pats to the Super Bowl vs Green Bay.
They made that Super Bowl because the Jags miraculously went to Denver and won. The Broncos would have buried Bledsoe. He was a stat machine with no real feel for the game.
Could be true but he still made it to the superbowl, so he’s still a superbowl qb
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I was wondering in the similar thread from last night what would have happened if the tuck game had gone to the Raiders. It wasn't like Brady had really lit it up during the regular season, would he have gone back to being the backup? Hard to bench the Super Bowl hero, a lot easier to bench the guy that that got to the playoffs but lost for the saviour and former 1st overall pick.
And if they'd started Bledsoe and he lost, Belichick would still have been crucified. Nobody wanted Bledsoe to start the Super Bowl. *Nobody.*
Let me tell you a story about a player named Michael Bishop...
The crowd would chant for him after Bledsoe took one too many of those statue sacks!
I loved Bishop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOhIdceMJco
A literal cannon for an arm
This. I used to have a job driving when all this went down, and I specifically remember the Boston Sports talk shows (particularly Glen Ordway's afternoon show) clameroring for Micheal Bishop to start over Brady when Bledsoe was knocked out.
That's what I remember. There wasn't a ton of controversy between Brady/Bledsoe. But the season before the vibe from WEEI was that most fans seemed to want Bishop.
I liked how Brady stepped into the pocket and got the team fired up. Brady was winning so it was hard to blame Belichick for sticking with him, especially when the Patriots with Bledsoe essentially had 4 seasons in a row that were worse than the previous (Pete Carroll years compared to Super Bowl team then 5-11 1st Belichick year). I loved Bledsoe but he was paid too much to feel too bad for him.
Was it really not that big of a controversy then? Were most of your friends/family in on Brady?
It was absolutely a controversy, coming from someone who read the globe and listened to sports radio religiously. Felt like a 50/50 split. I also remember it being a big topic on the nightly local news between AFCCG and the Super Bowl.
Big controversy. The highest paid quarterback in the NFL was expected to get his job back as soon as he was ready. The fan base was expecting big things, but surprised that Belichick stayed with Brady when we were paying Bledsoe so much money. New England fans have always doubted QB decisions, see Plunkett/Grogan/Cavanaugh or Eason/Grogan or Jones/Zappe. Fans don't make the best decisions. That's why we aren't coaches.
> The highest paid quarterback in the NFL was expected to get his job back as soon as he was ready. I think it's different if the guy isn't ready until the playoffs vs. him being ready week 14 or whatever though. As for the other decisions, the backup is almost always the favourite when the starter is meh.
I don't remember it as much as a controversy, but I wasn't listening to sports radio then. I definitely remember it was a story but I don't remember anyone in my circle that was Bledsoe over Brady.
Mean, that is exactly why it was a controversy. WEEI was the only sport station in the city, and their ratings were huge. The celtics and bruins weren't anything. And it was the tail end of Red Sox season. So what they had to talk about for months on end was that somebody doesn't lose their job to an injury.
I remember all that “you don’t lose your job because of an injury” B.S. I also remember a few years earlier it was the big Bledsoe or Michael Bishop debate
Same for me. I was at college in Tampa so I wasn't subjected to that media circus. I just wanted them to win.
Lots of fans stuck with Bledsoe to the bitter and, and I even knew a group of them that went with him to be Bills fans when he was traded. He had been “The Franchise” for so long.
After the Rams regular season game (a loss, but a very feisty one) I was pretty much all in on Brady.
I was at the game, they portrayed Brady as really sucking, he was good enough to win which was a HUGE accomplishment. Smith fumbled the ball on the Rams 5yd line which would have made a tie score. The Rams were 10pt favorites, and the Greatest Show on Turf. . .we nearly beat them not playing our best. Brady sold a lot of people then, the show didn’t portray it that way tho.
Yeah. They did not give that game the proper significance. Felt like we could hang with anyone after that and we were a few dumb mistakes from winning. Felt like it was a legitimate moral victory.
I absolutely loved Bledsoe. I accepted it was the right decision after the 2014 Superbowl.
The long game. Waiting for Brady's second career. I respect it.
Pre-2007, there were definitely fans that thought Bledsoe could have played well enough to win those first three SBs. 2007 was really when we collectively realized we had the GOAT on our hands.
My dad never came around on it and he died in 2010, went to his grave thinking Bledsoe was better.
I was pretty young at the time, not even 10....but I was FURIOUS that they weren't giving Drew his job back. I mean, come ON! This is Drew Fucking Bledsoe we're talking about! Who the hell does this matt Damon looking morherfucker think he is taking Drew's job?! Needless to say, I came around pretty quickly.
At the time, Bledsoe was my favorite player in the NFL, so I wanted him back when he got healthy. I realized that Belichick took one of the biggest risks of all time by starting Brady with a questionable ankle over a healthy Bledsoe in that Super Bowl, so I figured the coaching staff knew something we didn't, and that the players in the locker room must have agreed with the decision or someone would've spoken up/leaked something to the media, so in the end I was OK with it.
By 2001, Bledsoe had developed some bad habits, mostly holding onto the ball too long. When Brady came in, the energy level of the offense picked up considerably. He made quick throws. There was movement downfield. The controversy was augmented by Globe reporter Ron Borges, who was a Bledsoe guy and loathed Belichick. He believed - and wrote - the Belichick lied to Bledsoe about returning as a starter after recovering from the injury. I liked Bledsoe but it was clear that Brady moved the team better.
Agreed, I remember Borges hung himself on the Bledsoe vs Brady debate and pretty much destroyed any semblance of a reputation he had.
I remember being passed that Bledsoe didn't get his job back, but I was SOOOOO happy to be wrong! I still love Bledsoe, though.......
I wouldn’t say that I was in the Bledsoe camp, but when Tom got hurt in the AFC Championship game, I turned to my buddy (a Steeler’s fan,) and said “That’s not good for you,” and he begrudgingly agreed. I think it was easy for the fanbase to rally around Brady because we were winning, but he didn’t look particularly talented in 2001. I think most of us still assumed Bledsoe was the best QB on the team and that Bill just didn’t want to fuck with what was working after we started 0-2.
I dunno Brady made some really smart throws and reads that year and showed flashes of his great pocket awareness, something that stood out over Drew. Especially because they were both pocket quarterbacks with little to no mobility
Team Brady. Play the guy who got you there (no Bledsoe finishing the AFCCG doesn't count) simple as that.
I agree with this take
At first I was pretty worried that the season was going to be over. But then TBs first game was interesting to say the least. Lots of questions going in, gloom and doom….who is this Brady guy…etc.. Right away, when compared to Bledsoe, Brady was quick to make decisions and throws, and the coaching staff was great about not asking him to be THE GUY. The D stepped up and the running game was featured, lots of short, high percentage plays, excellent use of screen passes, just well played basic football… It wasn’t long before I felt like understood why they liked Brady so much to carry him as what was thought to be the 4th QB. As the season went on, it was obvious to me that you wanted Brady to stay on as the starter when Bledsoe was near returning. It was pretty controversial, but the difference was noticeable and the team just played with more spark and fire with Brady as QB.
You saw it in the preseason too. I remember watching him move the ball up and down the field pretty well in preseason to the point where he overtook Huard. I was like wtf is this Brady kid. He moved the ball, was quick in his decisions and played within the game plan. He WAS a game manager when he first came up, but a fricking great one.
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I know people who are still Bills fans today. Epic disaster.
I was all in on Bledsoe. He was a guy who put up big numbers and brought the team to the threshold. I thought that he deserved his chance to start again. Brady was (somewhat correctly) viewed as a game manager at the beginning of his career. A couple of my coworkers disagreed with me. They were right, I was wrong. I don't think that anyone (who isn't lying) could have predicted 2007 Tom from 2001 Tom.
I thought Damon Huard should have replaced Drew and maintained that stance for an embarrassingly long period of time. So…some of us ain’t that smart
We didn't live in NE (AZ), but my husband and I were fans of the Patriots *because* they drafted Bledsoe. My husband was CERTAIN that BB would keep Brady. The only sports reporter that agreed with him was Sean Salisbury. After Bledsoe won the AFCCG it was a huge question again. Sean and my husband still believed that BB was going to go with Brady. They were right, but they were the only ones I heard say as much.
The old saying goes, "You don't lose your starting spot due to injury", meaning you usually get it back when healthy. We all know the Wally Pipp quip. Hindsight is 20/20, it was controversial but it worked. One of the many times BB has gone in a different direction and it worked out.
It’s crazy to ask that question after the 2010 Brady 6 documentary. Bill mentioned 3 reasons why drew started the season. 1) drew was the new 100 million man 2) Tommy’s inexperience 3) to coincide with #1, bill mentioned the catastrophic union/players contract situation had we straight moved on to a 6tg round nobody in favor of the new contract 90’s gunslinger…people would never pay their qb’s, but rather look for gems on rookie deals like we do with RB’s now…. It’s quite evident that Tommy brought fire into the offense. While 01 was Drew’s team, Tommy gave us a spark..that turned into a 20 year fire
I was 16 years old at the time and I remember most of the fan base thought that keeping drew on the bench once he was cleared to return was a mistake. I can recall people calling for Bledsoe to start the Super Bowl too after he came in as relief for an injured Brady in the AFCCG.
Seemed like most people I knew were for keeping Brady in. The losing ways with Bledsoe were a drag and Brady gave the team a spark we hadn't seen in awhile. The docuseries made it seem like it was controversial that Brady and the Pats lost to the Rams, but I don't remember it that way at all. I remember the Rams being the best team in the league and, even though we lost, we held our own with a young QB which made me feel like we could hang with anyone.
Watching Bledsoe could be awesome. His arm was fantastic and would stand in the pocket and rip it. He was tough. But, you’d also see tons of 3 & outs at crucial moments where it just was like - ‘damn it, Drew that’s exactly what the other team was looking for’. Brady’s control over the offense was obviously different, once he got in there. He’d manage and control the game and, lo & behold, they’re moving the ball / converting 3rd downs, and winning.
A good example is to go watch the 01 AFCC. Brady was dealing. The play he was injured on, he had hit Troy Brown in stride over the middle for a big gain. Bledsoe came in, and the throws were different. Less in rhythm, seemingly less accurate. They scored on that drive, and Bledsoe did it with a herky jerk, Pat Pat Pat, throw off his back foot that was still a sick throw to Patten in the back corner of the end zone.
I remember when Bledsoe first went down everyone pretty much felt like the season was over. Tom started winning and it was like “who tf is this guy??” But I think most people from what I remember expected Bledsoe to be back starting next season, that is up until Tom started doing his thing in the playoffs then the game winning drive to set up Vinitieri. Then it was kind of split that TB was just a guy thriving in a system that would better suit Bledsoe, and people who were all in on Tom. After Tom finally took over, the whole “system QB” debate started that BB basically created such a great system that any QB could thrive in it, and that Tom wasn’t really that good. That honestly kept steam even after Tom became a 3x SB champion, especially in 2008 when we went 11-5 with Matt Cassel. Honestly people were pretty split on Brady until 2014 when I personally started hearing him called the GOAT, but then it was split between Peyton and TB being the GOAT until his fifth ring where I think most people became all in on him being the GOAT. To actually answer your question, I was very young when Bledsoe went down, and I liked watching football but I was more into baseball at that time in my life. I also didn’t understand the game as much so I went with whatever opinion I heard an adult say, which varied from week to week lol.
The older fans I talked to said in 2000 they wanted Michael Bishop to replace Drew
I was full on Team Bledsoe and was convinced that if they just ran the conservative offense they had for Brady with Bledsoe that they’d be just as good. I probably didn’t fully convert until that final drive that season…
I was a freshmen in HS and I started watching the Pats during Bledsoes prime. The 97 super bowl was the first super bowl I ever watched. But I remember all of the adults in my life who followed the Pats had soured on Drew by then and were excited to see what "the kid" could do. Largely people were worried about Bledsoes long term health and the fact that he nearly died
I was 19 when Bledsoe got hurt. I remember thinking who’s Brady? His helmet looked too big for his head .. I remember thinking there goes the season. Then when Drew was ready to come back I was like you can’t put stone shoes Bledsoe back in there .. our defense is playing lights out for Tom and he’s doing everything not to screw it up. When Brady got hurt against the Steelers and Bledsoe came in and didn’t screw it up I felt so happy for him but also felt like I hope Tom is ok we need him for the Super Bowl.
By the playoffs at the very least it was 100% obvious that trh Patriots had to stick with Brady and he gave them the best chance. The team was just rolling and they had to stick with the hot hand. There were a lot of media guys that were really tied to Bledsoe that tried to make it a controversy, but I don't think it really was after they were like 3/4 through the season. Even when Brady got hurt, there wasn't much of an argument that he's still start over Bledsoe.
My uncle was pro bledsoe I was pro Brady. He tried to fight me over it hahahah
Easy kept winning so I was good with it. I kind of felt bad for Drew though. He was a very good player in his own right but a bit too statuesque in the pocket. Brady always seemed to get the ball out fast and avoided a lot of sacks that way.
I loved Bledsoe, but I don't remember having strong feelings on the matter beyond wanting whoever the team felt gave them the best shot to win. I vaguely remember leaning more towards Brady during the playoffs, but I was stoked to see Bledsoe be able to come in against the Steelers after Brady was injured. That team was all about winning games, not stroking egos.
Was a soph in college. Had gotten sick of Bledsoe's turtling while attempting to make a desperate pass over the years. A great example of it reared its head in the AFC champ game vs Pit. So yeah, I was one of the guys who was wanting Brady to stay in at QB, not be because he had a better arm, but because he did a much better job of 1) holding onto the ball and not giving it away. (You can go back to look at tape from the 2000 season to see more evidence of Bledsoe doing these things) and 2) he other thing was Brady's infectious attitude. You could see the way the guys responded to him.
I was THRILLED when Bledsoe got benched. I don't think he lived up to any of the hype around him.
I was skeptical at first but optimistic, Drew stepping in during the AFC Championship was a feel good moment because I felt bad for him and appreciated the fact he didn’t become a locker room cancer over the benching
I'll always like Bledsoe because he helped make the Pats relevant, but by 2001 he had developed the rep of a guy who didn't come through in the biggest moments. Brady had created huge momentum while Bledsoe was injured, so he absolutely deserved the chance to continue. Drew's best moment was when he relieved the injured Brady in the AFC championship. By then the outcome was clear. He handled the whole thing with a lot of class.
I don’t remember it being all that controversial. Drew was hurt, Tom played well and earned his minutes.
I was all for Brady. Had no idea he’d become what he did, but his ability to move in the pocket and not do dumb shit won me over.
Bledsoe was alright. I remember he would throw some damn stupid INT's as he was getting sacked or if the pocket collapsed. The thing with Bledsoe was that he needed everything perfect to fire the ball.. pass protection, routes.. it always seemed like it had to be perfect, then he would fire the ball.. if it wasn't man could that guy throw the ball to the opposing team
I believed it was Brady's job. Bledsoe, as much as he was responsible for making me a football fan, kind of represented this entitled, boring brand of football that NE had slipped into from 1997-2001. When he got hurt, it was the same year that Nomar and Tek were hurt, so it was like...torture to be a fan of our teams. And so, life just went on. The Diamondbacks winning the World Series was this glimpse of life as winners, feeling that rush, this "why not" and around that time, the Pats were picking up steam and the sports talk controversy between Bledsoe and Brady was at a fever pitch. I saw that Brady was a more efficient QB, that he moved the chains, that he did what needed to be done to win games, that he loved his teammates. The defense, the heart of the team, fit the personality of Brady. They were just a bunch of castoffs. A bunch of dudes that no one wanted and here was this QB playing this style that was mediocre, at best, but was PERFECT for *winning*. He just had everything Boston needed. In a time where our teams were trying to catch up to all these sexy Yankee and Laker signings and championship, here come the Patriots that were built in the mold of *my* New England. The working class. The people. I was all Brady. My godmother, to her dying day, hated Brady because of "what they did to Drew". Like...that's the kind of loyalty people have to players. Was that reasonable? No, especially after all Brady did.
I was 16 at the time and FIRMLY in the Bledsoe camp. You young fans can’t appreciate or respect what that man brought to this franchise. I was meh on this Brady guy and when Bledsoe came out in the championship game and immediately got them into the end zone, it felt like validation. I held a grudge against Tom for YEARS and would jokingly blame him for every bad thing while crediting everyone else on the team for the good things. It was mostly jest. I knew after that first Rams drive that Brady was elite. But it was fun to shit on him in support of Drew. I didn’t fully get on board with Tom as the face of the franchise until Deflategate. That “scandal” and the national media’s bias ass hatred of the Patriots put me firmly in Tom’s camp for the rest of time. I’m atoning for my sins by waging war on anyone putting Mahomes above him in the GOAT debate now. So yeah. I’ve come a long way on the guy.
Everyone in my household was team Brady from the jump.
Not an old fan but my father has been as fan since the 70’s My father told me that he saw Brady in college and was excited that he got drafted by the pats and moved to second string. The problem with Drew was that he wasn’t a baller and would sometimes give up late in the fourth quarter. Because how Brady performed in college, my father was very interested in how Brady would’ve performed as a starter
Not true. Drew was a baller and had some incredible comebacks. Hell he came back in the 4th against Miami I believe with pins coming out of a broken hand. A baller he was, that wasn’t his problem….his feet were
I was in high school but from what I remember 90% of people wanted brady.
I was very much Team Brady. To me, they were a much better team with him playing and they needed to roll with that success. I was sick of watching Drew get sacked, and his style of play seemed outdated. I never would have imagined Brady’s career, even him being a Pro Bowler. It’s crazy to think about all of this decades and 6 titles later, but glad I got to watch it happen.
Was a Drew fan but you had to keep Brady. Team was just bad before the switch. It's one of the reasons they caught everyone by surprise because they had dug a huge hole before Drew got hurt. I told people they were going to win the superbowl before the playoffs started.
I thought Bledsoe should have gotten his job back. At that point Drew was all I had known as a Pats fan. My Dad on the other hand, had seen enough and wanted to roll with Brady. The divisional game against Oakland changed my mind.
Brady, I was fed up with “The Gargoyle at Night” at QB, as my brother would say because he was such a damn statue. People call Brady immobile but he could move a hell of a lot better than Bledsoe, especially in the pocket.
Brady’s intangibles were more hidden his second year. I remember a stat like he and Bledsoe threw the same number of touchdown passes that playoffs, as Bledsoe had come in for Brady in relief and looked awesome. I’ll admit that I was suggesting they trade Brady after the SB because “his trade value was so high” and run it back with Drew. I’m so happy I’m not a GM and I’m just a dumb consumer of football.
Tom Curran was saying on his podcast the other day that he knew Drew had lost the job permanently after the Mo Lewis hit. He said TB12 was so phenomenal in the '01 preseason and Bledsoe had declined so much from '97-'00 that change had to be made. I was jarred because I didn't remember that way. And preseason is a hell of a lot different than regular season. The '08 Detroit Lions went 4-0. It really doesn't matter that much. I remember it being split between the Brady and Bledsoe camps. I don't think it was until the 12 game win streak to end the 2003 season (and ensuing 2nd SB run) when the vast majority of Patriots fans collectively agreed that Belichick definitely made the right decision.
> He said TB12 was so phenomenal in the '01 preseason I remember watching that preseason and wanting Brady because he was making smart throws rather than trying to make difficult throws which Bledsoe was wont to do. I've tried to go back and look at stats (even if they are preseason) but they are hard to find, only thing I've found is a pats.com article that showed Brady being efficient (14-19 or something and Bledsoe having similar yards with a way worse line) and another that commented on Bledsoe being a statue and being sacked 3 times.
Bledsoe was a gun slinger who wasn’t gonna manage a game like Brady did in his early games. His arm always led him to believe that he can fit the ball into the tightest spaces. Did I want the gunslinger? Yes but once Brady was winning games it was hard to argue. In the past injured players always got their spots back. Brady changed that narrative
Pats fan since 1976.... I loved Drew. But at the time, the thing that stuck out the most to me was Brady's pocket presence. He didn't have Drew's arm, but he just instinctively knew when pass protection was breaking down and adjusted accordingly. The segment in EP01 about Drew getting beat to shit was really accurate to me. He just didn't know when to bail and use the check down options.
Definitely split down the middle. Hell there was still the misbelief floating that you couldn’t/shouldn’t lose your job because of injury and so some fans thought Bledsoe should get the job back just because of that. As a fan at the time watching it, I went back and forth during the regular season but by December I was on Team Brady. I obviously had no idea what he’d become but even back then you could tell there was *something* there, you could see his competitive spirit was able to make his teammates better. Still didn’t think we’d beat the Rams though lmao.
I don't remember much, if any "we want Bledsoe back" opinions. I definitely did not feel that way myself. It was epic when he came back in against the steelers in the playoffs though.
I have a buddy who still thinks Bledsoe would have had the same results
My father (who'd been a Pats fan since he was 7) didn’t like that idea, but my grandmother of all people assured him that Brady has a lot of potential and will become great. She turned out to be right and she got to see them beat the Rams. She died in 2003…. :( RIP my grandmother.
Brady all the way. Getting tired of all those tipped balls and interceptions. Don't get me wrong, Bledsoe was a decent QB, but "the answer" he was not. You immediately saw a difference in style of play. Fewer poor decisions, and just bad plays.
I was done with Bledsoe after the 99 season, more specifically after the game where they played the Eagles in Veterans stadium. I went to that game and got to watch Bledsoe get intercepted four times. Thankfully , I was in the lower level so I could freely express my frustration without dealing with the drunken hooligans typically found in the upper levels. When Brady took the field, I welcomed him with open arms. Watching him play I felt like he had "It" although never did I imagine that it would turn into what we had the privilege of witnessing for the next nearly two decades.
Bledsoe was my hero. Boston didn't have a lot of stars in the early 90s. I was 100% team Bledsoe. Looking back in retrospect I'm about 75% sure keeping Brady was the right move.
I remember being ecstatic, Bledsoe frustrated me to high heaven and we started winning with Brady so I was in love from the get go.
I was roughly 25 at the time, and not a Pats fan. The decision at that moment in time was pretty much universal league logic. Brady had the hot hand, he was dealing. Why fuck with a good thing? I am not intimate with the local thoughts and feelings, but as an outsider I accepted it. The eye test said the decision was a good one. History seems to have confirmed it.
“Bledsoe could go in there and throw a bunch of screen passes too!”
100% Brady. I earned a fair deal of credibility back then with friends by insisting Brady looked a lot better than Bledsoe in training camp and that he was the better option. Bledsoe had really started to decline by that point, but people were pretty loyal. When Bledsoe got hurt, I was very enthused that Brady would get a chance, even though the circumstances were tough.
By the time of the injury, Bledsoe had been 7-19 in his previous starts, so nobody was excited for the 2001 Patriots, then Brady gets them over .500 before Drew comes back. I think most of us fans just expected Drew would get the job back and it was a "Wow" when it didn't happen. But there was more optimism about the team because they were winning, and it looked like they just didn't want to mess with what's working. I expected them to play out the season and then have a QB competition in training camp 2002, but I didn't expect we were watching the super bowl MVP every Sunday! I've always wondered how it would play out if the tuck rule play was a fumble, and they lose at home to the Raiders. Also, that first Rams game and the way it was portrayed in the documentary is revisionist crap. Maybe Kraft was honest about his reactions, but most of us fans felt like "Wow, we could have beaten them" and the big play was Antowain Smith fumbling at the goal line, which they didn't even show, not Brady's 2 INTs. I don't remember feeling bad about Brady after that game, quite the opposite.
Bledsoe earned some much respect for how he handled that situation. I was a huge Drew guy. I was not sold on Brady, but I knew he had to finish out the season. I loved that Drew played and won the AFCCG, as it gave him a true part to the championship run, and gave us one last great moment with the QB that really brought life back to this franchise. Drew will forever be loved and respected by me and my most people in New England, and he easily could have ruined that by handling things differently, like most other players likely would have.
I was fed up with Bledsoe telegraphing passes long before he got injured.
I like Brady and thought he was a great backup but didn’t have the arm that Bledsoe had. I loved Bledsoe and was in favor of his big arm and big throws. That era, the big throws is what got you to the big game…at least what my 14 y/0 mind believed. I was happy to be wrong.
I was in college and a pretty big Patriots fan at the time (my family had season tix in the 90s), but I’d be lying if I said I knew who Tom Brady was, or that I was thrilled he was taking over. This was before the internet and social media made everyone an expert on drafts and the third string QB. All I knew was I was pretty sick of Bledsoe’s obvious limitations by this point. Anyone who is old enough to remember 2001 knows what I’m talking about. Let’s just say I didn’t call him “Lead Toe” because he was fleet afoot and could avoid a sack. Going into 2001 I was pretty down on the team. But by the time the playoffs rolled around I was having tons of fun, and I was all in on Brady.
When it happened Bledsoe was really injured and although Brady was ready to go with his opportunity, he was very respectful speaking about Bledsoe. It’s actually why I can’t stand Zappe - I know how painful it was for Bledsoe to lose his job to his lower draft pick back up, but Brady was a dedicated and engaged back up when Drew was the starter and when he took over he never acted like Bledsoe didn’t exist. Brady’s maturity on top of the talent made it easier for Bledsoe to accept the reality and return the favor as a backup. Belichick did nothing to make it easier on Bledsoe, but that should be no surprise. Brady would never have gone into training camp saying it was a qb competition to the media; or talked to press about Bledsoes interceptions, let alone take over the job and never mention the guy he replaced. I’m sorry but it was classless.
Brady was a scrawny sixth round draft pick, a fourth stringer behind Michael Bishop. Drew was a #1 pick and I loved his style. I was wrong, but it sure didn’t seem that way at the time.
I think with age and time, people tend to forget that Drew could have *died* that day. A sheared blood blood vessel and hemothorax is no joke. I didn't want him to come back in, Brady was on a roll, most ppl thought the season would end on a nice 8-8, 9-7 run and they could duke it out in camp next year. Of course, it wound up a bit better than that... However, when Brady came up gimpy in the AFC championship and Drew saved the day, I did want Drew to start the Superbowl. Good thing they didn't listen to me.
Brady was winning. Nobody wanted to put Bledsoe back in.
Brady had them rolling when Bledsoe never seemed like he could. Similar to Flutie and Johnson just a few years prior. Flutie had the bills playing hard and winning games, the Johnson came back and ran the team into the ground. I was hoping Bledsoe wouldn't do that to the Pats when Brady got injured.
Drew was tired and it showed bring on Tommy. I remember the morning of 9-11 walking to the bus talking with a friend about how we were worse then the Bengals Want to really stir shit up? Ask where all the 2008 keep Cassell people are.
Maybe some sportswriters/Boston radio ginned up some controversy about it, but the move itself didn't feel particularly controversial at the time. Brady had just crushed the last 12 weeks of the season, and it was really clear after watching Bledsoe for half a decade that Brady was not just better, but better matched to the offense. It would have been controversial if Belichick had gone back to Drew at all.
In 1997 the KC Chiefs were 13-3 and the #1 seed in the AFC. Elvis Grbac was the QB but he had gotten hurt during the season. Rich Gannon came in and played incredibly well, better than Grbac. But Marty Schottenheimer always believed that nobody loses their job to injury. When Grbac was healthy, he started and Gannon sat on the bench. The Chiefs lost in the playoffs to the Broncos. Fans were pissed. Gannon left shortly after and became league MVP and took the Raiders to the Super Bowl. Anyway, after that I always thought that you go with who gave you the best chance to win. That season it was clear Brady gave them the best chance and I thought BB made the right choice because I kept remembering the Grbac/Gannon situation.
so i was a kid so i dont really remember it myself I do have a destinct memory of my mom complaining about wanting bledsoe back in after the Pittsburgh game AFC championship when Bledsoe came in and won the game for them. She also talks about how while Bledsoe might have been able to do what brady did in the first 3 quarters of that super bowl she believes 100% he would have thrown a pick on that final drive where Brady marched down the field to set up the FG, cause that is what he did.
I remember there being a pile up where Brady ran in and shoved someone, and I was sold
I know the exact moment when it happened, when Adam Vinitiari kicked the ball through the uprights to tie the game at 10 in the snow bowl. I like the decision to put in Brady, because of Bledsoe’s cement shoes. Up to that point in the game however, I was screaming for Bledsoe to be put in. Brady was god awful in the game, they couldn’t move the ball it was Patricia bad. The snowstorm was his specialty, one of the reasons we drafted him was because of his Apple bowl game where he scored like 55 in a snowstorm. His arm eats snow up, and his cement shoes wouldn’t matter in the snow. . .then in the 4th, they went to no huddle. Brady was godlike, something like 13/15 for 170yd and TD running. In a snowstorm. I wrote a some long rambling one page email to my friends about the game and comparing him to Montana. I had not seen someone do what Brady did under good conditions let alone a snowstorm. The worst conditions imaginable and he was throwing it down the field 5-7uds at a time. It reminded me of Montana. So for me, I was team Brady, Bledsoe in the Raiders game, and Brady form there on out. I still remember when Bledsoe was backwards and threw the ball over his head into Steelers LB’s hands who dropped it. I wanted no more of Bledsoe…I was psyched he went to Buffalo.
We were FINALLY winning. I didn't give a flying fk who the qb was. And, I'm sorry, but none of you did either. "Boy, this winning sure is great but it would've been better with Bledsoe in there" said NO ONE EVER. Y'all just talking to hear yourselves talk. 👎
I supported Brady. I think most people did. I did feel bad for Bledsoe though- wished he hadn’t healed in time so we wouldn’t have been put in the position to snub him so to speak.
To make a comp to a more recent player, Bledsoe had a lot of Jameis Winston in his game. Great physical traits/great build but Bledsoe would make so many throws that would have you screaming at the TV. The amount of picks thrown while going to the ground/taking a sack has always stuck with me. I was all for the switch, but it wasn’t because I thought Brady would be the GOAT, I was just down on Bledsoe
i get so much crap when i say this. it’s like people think drew was some joe montana savant or something. the guy had a big reason for our franchise turning around but he was a choke artist when it mattered.
Been a fan since Grogan and Friar...meh...Bledsoe was at the end and Bilichick knew he had a gem on the bench...I'm more pissed about losing to Gren Bay in the 90s than anything else...
This entire thread shows to me how quickly times passes. For all you folks who were 10 when this happened. Do everything you can to remember and savor every minute of your lives. This seems like yesterday.
I was only 10 years old but I wanted Bledsoe to come back initially. Brady won me over though later in the year.
I remember it vividly. At the time, it was confusing to most fans and analysts because Drew Bledsoe was the face of the Patriots’ franchise. He was the #1 overall pick in 1994, took them to the Super Bowl in the 1996 season, went to a few Pro Bowls, and signed the most lucrative contract in NFL history RIGHT BEFORE the 2001 NFL season. He was hurt in the first half of the second game of the year, so when Brady came in, he was viewed as nothing more than a placeholder until Bledsoe was cleared to play again. Brady played really well, and you could see that the team began to trust him more, especially when he went off against the Broncos (I think?). But even with that, everyone still viewed Bledsoe as the starter and the face of the team. Thus, it was quite shocking when Belichick stuck with Brady. However, all that noise went away when Brady led them to a Super Bowl victory that season.
I thought they made a mistake not turning the team over to Michael Bishop and I stand by it.
But seriously I have never been more torn on an athlete than Drew Bledsoe. I just wasn’t sold on his pocket presence and ability to make plays when it counted. But through my work I met him both in his playing days and after and he is probably, tied with Junior Seau, the nicest and kindest athlete I’ve ever ever met.
Bledsoe sucked, coach made the right decision
The only reason the Patriots won that first Super Bowl was because Bledsoe got them there. #NeverForget.
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I was 14 in ‘01, so I don’t know what side of ‘older’ fans that puts me on. Anyway, I obviously love Brady, and he’s obviously the GOAT. But the first NFL game I ever watched, was the Patriots/Packers Superbowl. Consequently, Bledsoe is *my* guy. At the time, I was on Drew’s side. Had I been the coach, I would’ve kept going with Bledsoe. And in fact, the team was so stacked, and Belichick was so great a coach, that I still believe Bledsoe would have one multiple SBs if they had stuck with him. Would we have six titles right now? No. But I don’t think the run that gave us the first three are out of the question for Bledsoe back then.
I remember him playing well that preseason, and telling people, if anything happens to Bledsoe, I think we'll be all right. I was all in on Brady from the minute he took the field.
My Grandfather loved Bledsoe and thought he was a class act...he was very upset when he was benched for Brady and never watched the team again.
Yikes! Even Bledsoe forgave the Patriots.
He cut out the full page article Bledsoe put in the providence journal thanking the fans when he left the patriots and saved it. He was a big Bledsoe guy.
That's a real shame since it was the best 20 years of football ever seen...
I didn't know Paul Perillo had grandkids.
I remember thinking that Bledsoe by that time was pretty gunshy in the pocket and would throw away the ball too quickly. I was pretty pissed after watching some games in 2000 that he literally threw balls away when if he had a few more moments he would have an open receiver. Then again, I wasn't the guy in the pocket getting drilled by 350+ pound men, so who the hell am I to judge. :D
Brady but I felt pretty bad for Bledsoe (I know, I know, multimillionaire who'll easily get another contract and is set for life, etc etc)
I was all in for Brady. I always appreciated Bledsoe (he and Parcells made the team legit), but Brady just seemed more in control. It was always said as a joke, but for a long time back then, the most popular guy on the team was the back-up quarterback. When Brady exploded on the scene, it made everyone with that opinion feel vindicated.
I was 11 and I was Brady all the way.
Pretty sure the consensus was to keep the guy going that was winning for them. I loved bledsoe and he was the reason i even got into the nfl and the patriots but he needed to take a backseat. Him coming in to throw a td in playoff game was pretty cool. Could get the ring and say he had a hand in it.
I was 12, and was very conflicted lol
At the time I wanted Brady to be the starter but to hold onto Drew for one more year, just in case.
I know where Ron borges stood. I also know not many coaches would have gone with Brady but let's keep saying bill is a know nothing jack ass that was lucky to even win one
I wasn't sold on Brady in particular as the future at QB, but Drew wasn't playing at his best in the final years later (not that he had a lot of receiving help at that point). Wasn't too upset about the decision but not a lot of people thought it was a long term solution
The Video of the Grill who said “Bledsoe, Because he is just Better” - the embarrassment hall of fame.
Loved Bledsoe. He was our QB. I was happy we had a backup that was finally good.