Rewinding time: Article on Bledsoe and Brady from Dec. 2001

[JSn]

http://www.slate.com/id/2059381/

Snippets:

Regarding keeping Bledsoe or trading him:

So if this were simply about which quarterback has more talent, you'd be a fool to choose Brady. But think about what Bledsoe could fetch if the Patriots, a team with gaping holes all over the place, traded him. In April, the Atlanta Falcons gave up a first-round draft pick and a solid wide receiver-kick returner for Michael Vick. :singing: Bledsoe would probably claim an even higher bounty: Paul Zimmerman, Sports Illustrated football Svengali, recently suggested Bledsoe would probably fetch a starter plus two first-round draft picks.

Even if Brady turns out to be mediocre, all the extra quality players make the transaction a net winner for the team, and the surest way to turn this year's squad—which is performing far beyond its talents, thanks to good coaching and a bit of luck—into a serious Super Bowl contender.

If Bledsoe really wants to stay with the Patriots—and, to his credit, he's been the epitome of a loyal, club-friendly athlete for his entire stay in Foxboro—he's welcome to take a pay cut. Otherwise, he should go. Harsh? Perhaps. But that's the new reality of the NFL. Someday, the Tom Brady decision will turn out to be an object lesson too.

Reading this article actually caused moderate shivers. Just saying.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Great find.

 

[oldskool138]

Please stop comparing Brady to Cassel re the Bledsoe incident. It sullies the fact that what Brady did was nothing short of a miracle.

Lets see what happens the next two weeks and revisit the issue during the bye week....or after Cassel has to face a halfway decent team.

 

[JSn]

Please stop comparing Brady to Cassel re the Bledsoe incident. It sullies the fact that what Brady did was nothing short of a miracle.

Please stop not reading. All I did was quote an article rife with eerie similarities to our current situation.
If all we do, as sport fans, is base everything on facts, we might as well just check in once a year and see who won the SB.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Please stop comparing Brady to Cassel re the Bledsoe incident. It sullies the fact that what Brady did was nothing short of a miracle.

Lets see what happens the next two weeks and revisit the issue during the bye week....or after Cassel has to face a halfway decent team.

I agree,I think you downgrade and actually insult Brady on what he did in 2001 which like you said was a miracle which had a mediocre running back and a receiving core which was good but not great.

Cassel has to do more than beat the Jets - Indy,San Diego,Seattle & Pittsburgh are the games that will show whether he is a loser or not,the other games are games the team should win or at least stay in if Cassel controls hisposition without screwing up
- If he can get the teams offense on a roll enough to be 2-2 or 3-1 with those teams then he might get them to the playoffs

I doubt that by the time this season ends we won't have any new Pats fan joining here at patsfans with the name 'BernardPollardRocks' but knowing how some fans really loved Bledsoe until Brady came around then drew became a joke and loser would not surprise me a bit if some turned on Brady if Cassel did the impossible and won the SB,its what did you do for me now that counts for some of our fans

 

[Lifer]

I agree,I think you downgrade and actually insult Brady on what he did in 2001 which like you said was a miracle which had a mediocre running back and a receiving core which was good but not great.

Cassel has to do more than beat the Jets - Indy,San Diego,Seattle & Pittsburgh are the games that will show whether he is a loser or not,the other games are games the team should win or at least stay in if Cassel controls hisposition without screwing up
- If he can get the teams offense on a roll enough to be 2-2 or 3-1 with those teams then he might get them to the playoffs

I doubt that by the time this season ends we won't have any new Pats fan joining here at patsfans with the name 'BernardPollardRocks' but knowing how some fans really loved Bledsoe until Brady came around then drew became a joke and loser would not surprise me a bit if some turned on Brady if Cassel did the impossible and won the SB,its what did you do for me now that counts for some of our fans

Nahhh. for some of us Drew was already a joke and a loser.

WAIT!!!!! He just threw another interception!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Gwedd]

Well,

I think that a reasonable indication of what we will be getting next year with TFB is how well Peyton plays with the Colts this season. I don't believe that his injury was anything near what TFB has, but Manning was still looking hesistant and a fair bit rusty against Da Bears. It's certainly not rocket science, but still and all worth keeping in mind as we await #12's return.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Thanks for the article. Interesting and informative.

 

[MassPats38]

Certainly a nice flashback.

Despite claims that all or a majority of fans were calling for Bledsoe's head and welcomed Brady with open arms at the time of the injury, which reflects a bit of revisionist history given the fact Brady was an untested, low draft pick who apparently outplayed Bledsoe in the preseason that year (from an article I read as I couldn't find the preseason numbers: otherwise Brady threw exactly 3 regular season passes in 2000 and completed 1), Bledsoe was still viewed as the right starter at the time. I would venture a guess given past history that Belichick would have started Brady if he knew him to be the better option at the time. Brady was not anointed a savior at the time, which is why everyone was surprised when the team responded. Gloom and doom was the theme then among fans, but possibly slightly less than it is now as Bledsoe was a good quarterback but not an NFL and 2-time Super Bowl MVP and the team did not have the lofty expectations it does now.

I too was annoyed when Bledsoe would shut his brain down and force a pass or improvise and flip an interception. Those were his negatives. When he was good, he was very good and haters tend to forget his good games and the games he won in passing duels. Bledsoe made the Patriots credible when the team was considered a joke in the NFL (remember this team was once called "the Patsies"), Brady was key in making the franchise legendary.

The Bledsoe-Brady debate continued among fans after the Super Bowl, likely fueled by Bledsoe coming in to win in the playoffs against the Steelers (even though that game had the feel of finality for Bledsoe - the team simply did not respond to him the way it did for Brady). Fans still were not convinced Brady was not a flash in the pan and the Patriots would pay for unloading Bledsoe to Buffalo. The 9-7 showing in 2002 missing the playoffs while praying to back in at the end of the season did not silence that debate. The 2003 season did silence the debate. Brady was the right QB for this team. Again, that decision did not happen right away, nor after a few games. Brady's legend rose with that final drive (and Bledsoe by his side telling him in response to the directive to stay conservative passing "F*** that. Sling it!").

The media response to Brady was strange because Bledsoe was a media darling/informant and Brady is not. Losing Bledsoe triggered major local media hatred for Belichick (see Ron Borges as an example) and likely started the trend of unsupportive local writing, as alternative sources of information were no longer available to get around Belichick's stonewalling.

In the end, certainly a few similarities between now and 2001, but short of Cassel embodying everything Brady is now in a younger and cheaper version, there are too many differences to feel deja vu over it.

The team is better as a whole, Brady is an NFL legend thanks to his performing in the highest of pressure games, and Cassel just needs to do his job and let that better team do what it is capable of doing. Brady needed to take the reigns of an underdog team and raise up its level of play to a point previously unheard of in New England. Unlike Bledsoe, he doesn't flash brilliance, he sustains brilliance. That is consistency, and that is a trait I suspect Belichick values above all others. Absent an inability to recover his health, the only way Brady goes is if he hops the same flight as Kraft, Belichick and Pioli out of New England.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Since Cassell is a FA, it should help to ensure history does not repeat.

We should also note that TB has played alot of football these past seven years. We might find that this will add a few quality years on the backside.

 

[JSn]

Since Cassell is a FA, it should help to ensure history does not repeat.

We should also note that TB has played alot of football these past seven years. We might find that this will add a few quality years on the backside.

I read a lengthy article along these lines today, talking about different QB's retiring not so gracefully and one, I think it was Marino in 93, said he felt missing a year due to injury added to his longevity.

 

[thewaylifeshouldbe]

Very cool find. I think those that are uptight about it being put here are still feeling a little too emotional about last Sunday and missing the similarity of the times.

This quote is particularly interesting-

.....Bledsoe would probably fetch a starter plus two first-round draft picks

I wonder if we could get a starter and two first round picks for TB right now? While I love the man for what he has done for the organization and he certainly has plenty of arm left for the game, I would be hard pressed to feel bad about that kind of deal.

 

[JSn]

Very cool find. I think those that are uptight about it being put here are still feeling a little too emotional about last Sunday and missing the similarity of the times.

This quote is particularly interesting-

I wonder if we could get a starter and two first round picks for TB right now? While I love the man for what he has done for the organization and he certainly has plenty of arm left for the game, I would be hard pressed to feel bad about that kind of deal.

Blasphemy. Well, ok, no, but really you have a point. I love the Tomster.
IF (big IF) Cassel was able to lead this team to the playoffs I think we'd lose him to a team offering more than an extension. If not, we'd get nothin'.

I imagine regardless of what happens Tom is still the next few years of the franchise and Kevin is his successor.

All that said, Bill is not given to emotions, but I think we'd need a solid season of proof that Tom's done before anything would happen. And in that event, my bets are that Tom would retire.

 

[JSn]

Here's an interesting scenario and one that I think Tom would actually accept.

I wonder if Matt plays well (not supernaturally well or you can bet he's not going to sign anything) and we extended him for a year, maybe he would open games and let Brady close them or give him a few extra weeks of rehabbing.

Imagine if you were barely holding your own in a football game and you knew TFB was coming out for the second half.

Anyway, just thinking out loud. Either way I think in the 2010 season it's Tom, Kevin and some #3 we don't know about yet.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Blasphemy. Well, ok, no, but really you have a point. I love the Tomster.
IF (big IF) Cassel was able to lead this team to the playoffs I think we'd lose him to a team offering more than an extension. If not, we'd get nothin'.

I imagine regardless of what happens Tom is still the next few years of the franchise and Kevin is his successor.

All that said, Bill is not given to emotions, but I think we'd need a solid season of proof that Tom's done before anything would happen. And in that event, my bets are that Tom would retire.

Just stop.

Belichick will have gotten tremendous value for his 7th round pick who is a FA in 2009 if he just gets them to the playoffs this season. And Cassel will be rewarded...elsewhere. BB might consider extending Cassel as early 2009 insurance, but that would require a contract that satisfies the teams need not to overpay cap for that insurance and Cassel's likely desire to become a starter in his own right elsewhere.

Kevin is not his successor. He's hopefully Cassel's. Brady will play into his late 30's barring catestrophic injury. Kevin is signed through 2011. He too will want his starting shot or not be worth the roster spot. They won't pay to have him ride the pine.

 

[JSn]

So you're positive Tom won't hit the field timid next year? Hm. Can you spot me the score for Sunday's game?

 

[Rob0729]

I love this line from the article:

So if this were simply about which quarterback has more talent, you'd be a fool to choose Brady.

They should read that line at Brady's HOF induction.