Who did you want when Brady vs. Bledsoe happened?

I know that this thread is on the board as well.

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...6153-looking-back-brady-bledsoe-decision.html

But, that is slightly different in that it's based on an article and it's more about reminising how it effected the Pats.

What I'm trying to get at here is what did YOU want back when this happened, if you were the head coach for that one day when Drew was cleared to play what would your decision have been? Of course we all know what the right decision turned out to be now, but what did you think then?

As for me, I was for Brady then. I loved Drew when he was our guy but Brady just had that aura around him that was unmistakable, so I was happy with BB's decision.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

NovaScotiaPatsFan said:

I know that this thread is on the board as well.

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...6153-looking-back-brady-bledsoe-decision.html

But, that is slightly different in that it's based on an article and it's more about reminising how it effected the Pats.

What I'm trying to get at here is what did YOU want back when this happened, if you were the head coach for that one day when Drew was cleared to play what would your decision have been? Of course we all know what the right decision turned out to be now, but what did you think then?

As for me, I was for Brady then. I loved Drew when he was our guy but Brady just had that aura around him that was unmistakable, so I was happy with BB's decision.

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Brady all the way, Bledsoe was a classy guy with a rocket arm, but he had a knack for throwing stupid backbreaking interceptions at the worst time in games, it was hard to watch. So frustrating. I did feel bad for him but Brady (with much less of an arm) moved the chains and made few mistakes.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

Brady. Because we weren't going anywhere with Drew. And, more importantly. Drew had a lot of trade value.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

Brady was really raw then, but the one thing he had that Bledsoe never had was a quick release. Bledsoe could never throw the quick short pass like Brady can.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

I hate to admit this, but I thought that Bledsoe offered reliability and consistency. That probably had something to do with not having seen that much of Brady. Either that or I am a complete moron. Feel free to decide for yourselves.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

gomezcat said:

I hate to admit this, but I thought that Bledsoe offered reliability and consistency. That probably had something to do with not having seen that much of Brady. Either that or I am a complete moron. Feel free to decide for yourselves.

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I want to make it clear the point of this wasn't to rag on anyone who genuinely felt Bledsoe was the way to go, loyalty is a good thing. I'm just trying to see how split Patriot nation was back then, and also to show just how difficult a decision it must have been for BB.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

I was a big fan of Drew Bledsoe and defend him to the hill, however he just was not the right with Belichick.... This was Brady's team, and felt we could have a great future...

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

gomezcat said:

I hate to admit this, but I thought that Bledsoe offered reliability and consistency. That probably had something to do with not having seen that much of Brady. Either that or I am a complete moron. Feel free to decide for yourselves.

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that was my train of thought, too. I was only 12 when it all went down, but I remember wanting Bledsoe because he was a proven QB. I thought it was stupid to trade a guy who had given our team so much success. Little did I know what "success" really meant. I didn`t think Brady was for real until the end of the 2002 season. Even though he won a super bowl for us. go figure.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

I wanted Brady. I was always troubled by Bledsoe's lack of mobility, though I loved the arm

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

Well I'll step up and be perfectly honest. Nobody among the fans knew what Brady could do- nobody. Sure he showed some glimpses in preseason, but nobody was saying he was something special.

Lots of people were getting tired of Bledsoe's mistakes, so I think you can describe the divide as

1) Bledsoe will be 'the man' again

vs.

2) We need somebody other than Bledsoe, and this Brady kid I guess will deservedly get the first crack at it

I was in the second category.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

I was 15 when this happened, but I remember wanting Brady only because the team looked so much more efficient when he was in.

Re: Who did you want when Brady vs Bledsoe happened?

I was in favor of Brady. The thing that stood out to me the most was Brady's uncanny ability to move in the pocket. He felt pressure very well for a first year starter, scanned his progressions, made good decisions, and became quite clutch as the year went on. I never thought he was going to become what he is now, but I thought that he was the archeotype of a winner.

I had always felt a great allegiance to Bledsoe since he first came into the league. I wanted him to continue as the Patriots' QB because I thought that Brady was still unproven, despite leading us to a SB win.

When BB made the decision to go with Brady, that was the exact moment that I subscribed to "In BB we trust."

Not afraid to admit it. I wanted Bledsoe. The guy had a lot of upside and I felt that Brady was benefiting from some great luck, and that his star would come crashing down before long. Even after the Super Bowl, I wasn't too sure and was wondering if we had to get rid of Bledsoe that bringing in a competent backup might have been a good idea in case Brady had a sophomore slump.

I really liked what Brady had out there, but I was waiting for the coach to turn into a pumpkin. Too many years of letdowns I guess.

I wanted Brady after he played about 3 games. I thought he made quicker decisions than Bledsoe about where the play needed to go. Basically, I thought Bledsoe had an amazing arm, but needed to see a guy open and then he could rifle the ball to the receiver with his superior arm strength. I thought Brady would anticipate that a guy would be open before he actually was open. He would release the ball before the receiver was open but when the ball arrived there the receive had come open and could catch the ball. I thought he had a Larry Bird like ability to see the play before it developed.

Well, I guess I was the only one who really grew up with Bledsoe (being 21 at the time of the great debate), so I stuck with Bledsoe.

I was more irritated with Belichick that he seemed bound and determined to run an offense ill-suited to his (recently resigned for 100 million bucks) star QB, much like Jimmy Johnson in his years with the Dolphins.

Bledsoe after his first time with Parcells had Pete Carroll who didn't continue to keep coaching Bledsoe to be a better QB like Parcells would have...then he had Belichick (who, despite all his success, seemed almost on the verge of doing the whole Kosar vs. Testaverde thing again with the Patriots. He didn't like the incumbent (Kosar/Bledsoe) and submarined the incumbent every chance he could to put in his guy (Testaverde/Brady). Anyway, then he goes to the Bills where for only one year did they give him the talented cast to succeed...and then got rid of all their weapons and turned to an offense Bledsoe's never been good at.

Then he goes to a Parcells team in Dallas and has some moderate success but, I think with Jerry Jones' interference...got submarined again.

In sum, when he's in an offense where he's got a good security blanket, good protection and some good pass catchers (not that he needed elite ones, bear in mind his 94 season where he set an NFL record for most receivers with 50+ receptions), he did great.

Obviously, in hindsight, the decision turned out to be a success but there was an equal shot that Brady could have just had a miracle year.

There seems to be a pathological need to start a a Bledsoe thread once every week or two on this board. Whatever. To answer the question I wanted anybody but Bledsoe to be the QB of this team, they pissed away a couple of very good chances to some damage in the the playoffs only to have Bledsoe fail miserably time after time. Oh yeah I forgot to mention what a classy guy he was, whatever the hell that is supposed to mean.

After Brady's 2nd game I posted something somewhere using the phrase "Quarterback Controversy Brewing" half jokingly... but half serious.

It was bizarre to see but it was clear pretty quickly that Brady had the pocket presence and ability to excell in the short game that Bledsoe never did and never would.

It was also clear that while Bledsoe was going to be pissed to lose his job to injury, Brady had earned the position.

I always did and always will defend Bledsoe from bashers who forget about him playing with a staple in his finger and strapping a team on his back to win - and while Bledsoe had a cannon of an arm he just couldn't do what Brady could in the short game - and of course Brady has since become an all around QB beyond just the short game.

at that time i was 65% pro Bledsoe, 35% pro Brady

I'm sure the OP had good intentions, but any thread with Drew, and Toms name in the title, is destined to turn into a b*tch session.

Most everyone knows by now, that i was on Drews side of the fence at the time. For what BB wanted to do, and the players we had, Tom was the better choice. Its easy to look back now, and see that Bill was right, but at the time, i was pretty p*ssed.

We are lucky as Pats fans to have had some good QBs over the years. Imagine what it must be like to have been a Lions, or Bucs fan?