9/23/2001 - When it all began: Happy Brady Day!

Mack Herron said:

Nobody knew. As Belichick himself has said, if he had any idea how good Brady would become, he wouldn't have waited 198 picks and nearly 6 rounds (compensatory selection) before drafting him. Brady is writing his own history, and what a read it is. As we eagerly await Tom's next chapter, I'll hoist one for Tom tonight.

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BB and Weis knew. There is the story at the start of 2001 TC and BB having Weis testing TB and Drew on the playbook, audibles, check-downs, etc. BB wanted to be able to quantify how much better TB was than DB in the mental aspect of the game. This was done in the classroom as well as the practice field.

BB already had plans for Tom. He knew what he had.

The story is the TB destroyed him.

I was listening to the game on the radio. When Bledsoe went out I just assumed Damon Huard would take over. When they announced Brady I actually said to the radio, "who the f$%k is Tom Brady?" I very quickly found out.

letekro said:

Easy to say now, but I can honestly say that I thought all those years ago that that Bryan Cox hit was a transformative moment for the team. It was almost as if black and white became color.

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Like the Wizard of Oz. Who is the man behind the curtain?

PatsWSB47 said:

I'm so lucky to have been at that game. Brady didn't throw much but even then you could see he had the "it" factor. The Pats didn't get much respect all year. I remember the tv playoff promotion didn't even include the Pats even though they won the AFC East.

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I was at that game too. What struck me is how fast he could get the ball out compared to Bledsoe. It was especially obvious the quick out play to the sideline. I remember talking to someone at halftime and saying Bledsoe should be nervous about getting his job back.

We have a friend who went to Michigan and followed them in college football. He said Brady was really good. We laughed and said, "ok, whatever you say." Wasn't he the 4th QB on the depth chart in camp? Unbelievable what twists and turns life can take.

It's a Brady day!

I remember when TB12 was drafted and thinking maybe he could be a poor man's Brian Griese (as he was also from Michigan). Ha ha, more like a billionaire's Brian Griese.

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

This is also a good place to point out that 2001 was near the beginning of the idea of "power rankings" and that likely the best NFL sportswriter of that era, "Dr. Z" of Sports Illustrated, had labeled the Patriots as the very worst team in the NFL after the Bledsoe injury.

In fact, that Tuesday column was likely published the same day that Tom Brady had his very first practice as an NFL starter.

"This is sad. Drew Bledsoe took a big hit and is out indefinitely. Honestly, I don't know what weapons they have with which to win a game"

The CNNSI link is now dead, but this is covered here: http://www.patspulpit.com/2015/2/24/8097471/patriots-ranked-dead-last-in-week-3-of-2001

It was not a crazy idea that we were that bad, either. Coming off a 5-11 season, losing a franchise QB, going to a total unknown, and without a lot of "buzz" about any big name draftees or big ticket free agent acquisitions.

I remember the WEEI "whiner line" after the Bledsoe injury. There were not many believers even imagining what was about to happen.

But we should all remember this when people are discussing Brady's unsurpassed career won/loss percentage and then some moron will chime in "Yeah, but he was lucky to step right on to a Super Bowl caliber team"

That's not the way it went.

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Fun reading the power rankings for the whole season as it went
http://web.archive.org/web/20111228....com/football/news/2001/09/25/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20100605....com/football/news/2001/10/02/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20121111....com/football/news/2001/10/09/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/10/16/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040902....com/football/news/2001/10/23/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/10/30/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/06/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/13/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/11/20/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/27/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20021017....com/football/news/2001/12/04/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/12/11/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/12/18/power_rankings/

jmt57 said:

I can't recall who, but I distinctly remember some here - perhaps @PatsWickedPissah and/or @patfanken - who were at the training camps at Bryant College, talking about Brady and being thoroughly impressed with him back in 2000 and 2001.

I will have to admit though that when Bledsoe was injured against the Jets, at the time I too figured that it was going to be a rough year for fan of the Patriots. This was a team coming off a five-win season that was now without their three-time Pro Bowl starting quarterback on top of their top playmaker (Terry Glenn), who was already suspended for the season after producing over 2100 yards of offense in the previous two years.

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JM, you got me thinking about those early days. IIRC, Terry didn't go quietly into the night that season. I think that Glenn was hurt the week Bledsoe got hurt, and came back and played a few games with Tom before he went completely off the rails and was suspended. I have this memory of Glenn catching at least one TD pass from Tom. Maybe it was the Colt game.

Edit: I just checked and it was the SD game that year where Glenn had a TD and 110yd, 7 catch game. Further investigation finds that Glenn was on the team 4 games that season with one start, evidently that was the SD game.

Glenn never stopped being a great WR talent. Most people probably forget that in his last 2 full years in the league (2005 & 2006) Glenn had 1100yd seasons with Dallas. He almost 9,000 yds of receiving in his career, who knows what he might have accomplished if he had his head on straight. I hope he is well now and content He had a very tough upbringing .....and I'm REAL glad he never got a ring that year.

BTW- Not too many coaches would have done what BB did in suspending his best receiver while trying to help a very young QB with his weapons. But it DID sent a powerful message that no one is bigger than the program. And it's one that lasted to this date. At what point did they finally cut the cord on him that year. Anyone remember?

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...om-bradys-first-week-as-starting-quarterback/

3. Bryan Cox played a huge role in loosening things up that week.

The Patriots were 0-2 coming into the game, and the Colts were 2-0. In what might have been a pre-planned move, veteran linebacker Bryan Cox was outspoken over the course of the week, saying there was no way New England was going to be scared of the likes of Manning, even though the young Indy quarterback had led the Colts to 87 points in their first two games of the season. “They can be beat,” Cox roared. “They put their pants on just like we put our pants on. We can compete. We can play. We can win. I’m looking to knock Peyton’s head off. That’s point-blank football. You can make them out to be Supermen. You can give them some credit — they’ve put up a lot of points this season. But I’m not built like that.” In many ways, the spotlight was taken off Brady and put on the outrageous statements from Cox.

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Kind of surprised of BB's quote saying "He's no Elway"...

Ofcourse he's not, Bill. He's a lot better.

We are fortunate to have him as our qb. I hate when people compare him to cassel and say he is a system qb because the matt won 11 games. They forget the team didn't even make the playoffs and that team was stacked. System qb? 15 years, of course there is a system and rhythm to the offense now.

SVN said:

Fun reading the power rankings for the whole season as it went
http://web.archive.org/web/20111228....com/football/news/2001/09/25/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20100605....com/football/news/2001/10/02/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20121111....com/football/news/2001/10/09/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/10/16/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040902....com/football/news/2001/10/23/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/10/30/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/06/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/13/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/11/20/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/27/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20021017....com/football/news/2001/12/04/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/12/11/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/12/18/power_rankings/

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Thanks for the trip down memory lane. On a related note, I used to love Dr. Z's columns. He suffered a debilitating stroke some years ago (not even sure if he is still with us). I wish there was a good writer out there like him these days.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

Kravitz Quote:

The Patriots, who stunk when Drew Bledsoe still was in possession of all his internal organs, will be woeful with somebody named Tom Brady.

lol

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Kravitz. The gift that keeps on giving.

Angelpats said:

We are fortunate to have him as our qb. I hate when people compare him to cassel and say he is a system qb because the matt won 11 games. They forget the team didn't even make the playoffs and that team was stacked. System qb? 15 years, of course there is a system and rhythm to the offense now.

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System QBs are not leaders. They are not good enough to be. They don't put up big numbers, they are nowhere to be found near the top of the stat leader chart, they don't break records, they don't win MVPs they don't get many wins and they certainly don't lead their team to rings. They are not good enough to adjust to what a defense is giving them. They may get by with one offensive system but if anything changes they fall off the cliff. The words "hall of fame" will NEVER be heard with the name of a system QB.

In fact a system QB doesn't last very long in this league and there's a good reason for that.

Does all of that sound like Tom?

It is more probable than not that anyone who says Tom is a system QB is just saying it to yank Pats fans chains.

BelichickFan said:

I remember when TB12 was drafted and thinking maybe he could be a poor man's Brian Griese (as he was also from Michigan). Ha ha, more like a billionaire's Brian Griese.

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I didn't like the pick at the time, thought it was a waste.

I remember Kiper mentioning that it was an interesting pick when it happened, but how many players has he said that about?

We already had Bledsoe, Bishop, and another experienced QB. Why draft one who won't even make the team.

It's not like you're going to get a future HOFer in the 6th round.

SVN said:

Fun reading the power rankings for the whole season as it went
http://web.archive.org/web/20111228....com/football/news/2001/09/25/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20100605....com/football/news/2001/10/02/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20121111....com/football/news/2001/10/09/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/10/16/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040902....com/football/news/2001/10/23/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/10/30/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/06/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/13/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/11/20/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040906....com/football/news/2001/11/27/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20021017....com/football/news/2001/12/04/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/12/11/power_rankings/
http://web.archive.org/web/20031210....com/football/news/2001/12/18/power_rankings/

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Thanks for all that work!
If there is a Hall of Fame of Patsfans Forum Posts, this should be one of them.

Lots of possible favorite quotes. Here are mine:

Sometime in October
What's that you say, Tom Brady? A quarterback controversy, while Drew Bledsoe is mending? Too silly to even mention, ridiculous I say. What's the name again? Right, Tom Brady.

November 27
It is late September in Foxboro. The Patriots are 0-2. Their quarterback is out. Their long-ball wideout is serving a suspension. All along the Mass Pike there are homemade signs reading, "Pats Tickets for Sale." Time fries. Drew Bledsoe can't get back into the lineup. Terry Glenn? Who's he? Facing the team is a trip to New York and a Jets contest that ranks as one of the truly big ones in recent Patriots' memory. Win that and, gosh, the playoffs beckon. Yes, I foresee an upset, unless, of course, the Jets are taking this one as seriously as New England is, and I don't think they are.

Here's Dr. Z's game review for SB36:
http://web.archive.org/web/20020209...inside_game/dr_z/news/2002/02/04/drz_insider/

Dr. Z said:

I mean, when the season began, did anyone write "The Patriots, keyed by Adam Vinatieri, one of the most feared kickers in the NFL ... " He was a middle-of-the-pack kicker, a 28 year old from Rapid City, S.D., but has there ever been a more dramatic kick than his 45-yarder in the snow against Oakland? Sure, his 48-yarder that won the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady, 24, zero on his resume before the season began, taking his team 53 yards in a minute and a half with the ultimate coolness, looking for all the world like a young Montana, to put a capper on the biggest game of his life.

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And here was Dr. Z's SB36 forecast:

We've seen this Super Bowl matchup before. We saw it 11 years ago when Marv Levy's three-wideout, hurry-up Bills offense, a dazzling show that had rung up 95 points in its two previous playoff games, ran into the stodgy, defensive-minded Giants. New York upset favored Buffalo by a point.

(snip)

My guess is, if he's healthy enough, Brady will start. A Patriots victory wouldn't shock me, given the kind of roll they're on. But the St. Louis defense is on one too. Call it 27-24, Rams.

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http://web.archive.org/web/20020209...me/magazine/football/nfl/news/2002/01/29/drz/

dales804 said:

As we know, Mo Lewis Rocks.

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Speaking of MLR, he hasn't been around for a long time. He used to be a regular poster. Anybody know what happened to him?