2001 Hindsight... Brady vs Bledsoe

[JoeSixPat]

"The Pats got rid of the wrong QB"

-PFnV, 2002

I admire your honesty.

I'm sure there are plenty who thought the same thing and won't admit it.

After all, just a few years before that point in time Bledsoe got us one game closer to the Super Bowl than we did this year, thereby "proving" that no upgrade to the position was necessary, just the same way Caldwell and Gaffney "proved" that no additional WRs were necessary this year.

My position at the time was, I'm all for loyalty - but when a QB wins the SB for you the way Brady did - you have to reward that with loyalty as well

So there were two QBs we needed to be loyal to - and that made for a simple choice for me - Brady.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

"The Pats got rid of the wrong QB"

-PFnV, 2002

Yes Michael Bishop.
Actually I was a Bledsoe fan until the 1999 season when in the second half of the season(he was the MVP type the first half) he lost it and never to this day recovered from that slide.
I became a Brady believer during the San Diego game that year when he brought us back from 10 points down in the 4th quarter to win. If they did not get that victory no Super Bowl that year.

 

[brdmaverick]

I wanted Drew and was upset when he left......

A.) I thought Brady was a system QB in 2001. After all, watch the 2001 highlights again and most of the plays were made after the catch.

B.) Bledsoe was the only quarterback of the Pats that I had ever known. I first became a fan of the Pats and football in general during Drew's second season. It was tough to let go of the man that I worshipped.

C.) Drew is a very likeable guy.

 

[PATRIOT64]

How could you not go with Brady after he tore the crap out of the highly regarded Indy team in the 2001 season in his first full start,and on the road too!,He helped beat them by what 44-17? - after that it was going to be Bradys team as long as he was a team member IMO.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

See, a lot of you guys were signed up w/Brady pretty fast. I thought:

1) Drew. Son of a coach. Close to ego-less player. Not "all about me." Ahem, "laser rocket arm." Stats had been good for about a decade. Brady? We knew one year, the knock was that he was a system QB, and he never dazzled.

2) Didn't realize (because we'd never really been there,) that a QB leads. When Madden said "What Tom Brady just did gives me goosebumps," I was like "yeah me too. But you can't count on guys doing that every time."

3) Two words: Tony Eason. I'd seen a guy get us to heights before, and at the time, it seemed like we had a young QB, played well, this time won the big one, and then next season... next Eason.

Just thought I'd expand on what a dumbass I was. That's when I first started drinking the kool-aid, and looking into what BB et al. were up to.

PFnV

 

[Kdo5]

When we started winning I wanted to keep Brady. If it was working then why change it?

 

[BelichickFan]

Brady - it was fairly clear immediately he was the better QB.

 

[hwc]

I'm not kidding when I say this: During the second half of the Jets game I was saying to myself, "this team is never going anywhere with Bledsoe but they just signed him to that huge contract.

I had been e-mailing a buddy for about a month saying that the team was going nowhere as long as Bledsoe was the QB. No knock on Bledsoe. It was just obvious that he had taken too much pounding and that the entire team was content to sit back and put the whole thing on his shoulders. He felt the pressure and it was a viscious, losing cycle.

The only thing I got wrong is that I thought Bledsoe would bounce back with a change of scenery and a new team. I didn't think he was finished, finished.

 

[ChoWZa]

People would argue with me around the time the patriots were entering the playoffs about how Drew should be starting and I just made my case that.. It was Tom's season.. he needs to finish it.

Imagine now if they had stuck with Drew the magnitude of that mistake.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Back in the spring of 2001, I heard all this stupid Mike Bishop talk, and I said, no one should replace Bledsoe, then he signed his contract, I remember the press confrence, Belichick was very uncomfortable then talking about Drew ( and by the way that was the last big press confrence announcing a signing a free agent or one of thier own.. There has only been confrence calls or press statements). But was happy we had Bledsoe in the fold, and was hoping we get him some weapons, we did not draft a wr that draft, we did draft 2 te .. Arther love and Jabar Holliway... Then the Terry Glenn senerio came, and then we sign Charles Johnson, Torrence Small and Bert Emanuel.. I figure , this is a wild card team with Drew, and I was the biggest Drew Bledsoe backer this side of Pa.. Then I witness Brady vs the Panthers in the pre season, and thought this guy might be the future , but that is a long way down the line.. Make a long story short, I finally realised against the Saints that I believe the Pats will survive with out Drew Bledsoe, and that holds true to this day..

 

[Amnorix]

I was also on the Brady bandwagon from the start. It had already been a year or two that I'd been thinking how Bledsoe had had every opportunity, but just hadn't, and wasn't going to, become the next Larry Bird, Bobby Orr or other super-great Boston sports star that we had all hoped he would be.

Then he starts 0-2, Brady comes in, and we end up 1-3 and then go on a winning streak. Seriously, how do you go away from the hot hand unless you're really positive it has nothing to do with the guy?

And then, finally, Brady during hte 2nd half of the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh reminded, THOROUGHLY, why Brady was better. As we were heading up to the SB, and all the debate was raging about who was start, I was busy praying for Brady's health...

And as for those who said a starter can't lose his job due to injury -- **** that!!! What an incredibly stupid concept. Freaking Lou Gehrig started his run as 1st basemen of the Yankees because the guy that was starting got hurt or sick or whatever. 2,300 games later....

 

[JoeSixPat]

Brady - it was fairly clear immediately he was the better QB.

I definately didn't think so immediately. Once he won the SB there was absolutely no question... and no real question to continue to go with the hot hand at the time.

And while anyone could see his poise and leadership, in terms of QB skills many forget that BB and Weis had him on a short leash. A lot of dink and dunk passes, not asking him to do too much... just don't make mistakes is all we were asking of him...

Until the playoffs, when he clearly strapped the team on his back, especially for the final FG drive in the SB.

But before then, Brady's skills were really NOT on display to us.

 

[BelichickFan]

I definately didn't think so immediately.

I thought it was immediately obvious. All of a sudden we had open WR and the OL didn't suck - because Brady was willing to throw to the open guy, not wait for someone to get open deep.

During the game against The Jest before Bledsoe got hurt, I said to my wife "either the WR aren't getting open or Bledsoe isn't finding them" then Bledsoe got hurt and it became clear which it was.

 

[PromisedLand]

I would like to revise my response:

I knew that Tom Brady would lead the Patriots to 3 Super Bowls (so far) when he was still sitting on the bench at Michigan behind Brian Greise.

Come on people, did any of you HONESTLY know Brady was better than Bledsoe right away?

 

[BelichickFan]

I knew that Tom Brady would lead the Patriots to 3 Super Bowls (so far) when he was still sitting on the bench at Michigan behind Brian Greise.

Come on people, did any of you HONESTLY know Brady was better than Bledsoe right away?

It sure looked that way to me . . . but, no, not 3 Super Bowls better

 

[PromisedLand]

It sure looked that way to me . . . but, no, not 3 Super Bowls better

I could see immediately that he brought a fresh infusion of enthusiasm, optimism and energy to his approach to the game. I could see that right away that his attitude was infectious and the team was rallying behind him. But I did not for a moment understand that it was much more than a young fresh-faced kid taking over for a worn-down, grizzled veteran, and I did not immediately realize that beyond the attitude, Brady was a much better player.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

I was a huge fan of Bledsoe. He is the type of QB that if you surround talent around him, he will pick apart any defense. New England didn't have much talent and they were winning with Brady. I really thought the Pats should have given Bledsoe his starting job back against the Rams or Saints. I was great to see Bledsoe lead the team to victory against the Steelers in the AFCCG. From the looks of the injury in the first half tackle by Joey Porter, I thought Brady was done for the season. Remember all the questions surrounding the Pats superbowl week whether Brady or Bledsoe would start at QB. Brady played in the superbowl and the rest is history.

 

[KevinAbq]

Funny story. Bledsoe was actually my neighbor before he built that big house in Franklin(???) Anyway, he was a pretty good guy. My buddy and I stopped at Emerald Square Mall after a PVD Bruins game after the Pats signed him as a rookie. He was walking around and nobody noticed him. I said to my friend "Isn't that Drew Bledsoe the new Pats QB?" As I turned around to get a second glance so did he and nodded his head yes. He had heard me ask my buddy. That said, we had heard that a Pats player had bought the house two houses down from us but we didn't know who it was at the time. Me and the same buddy, were throwing a ball around and Drew comes walking out of his house and starts throwing with us. We were both 17 at the time and we were both pretty much pissing our pants. We get to talking and then he says to me "Aren't you the kid I saw at the mall?' He ended up giving us a bunch of stuff. Shirts, Footballs, team autographs.

Now, I'm happy to see the Lombardi's but at the time, it was sad to say Goodbye.

EDIT: And I still have my Bledsoe Jersey in my closet, right next to Brady's

 

[marty]

I thought Drew was a good QB but when Brady came in and things started to click, I wanted him to win the job. BB made the right call for the team. I'm still of the mind that Brady won and Drew lost that job based on performance.

 

[zarakotas5]

I'm having a hard time believing the poll results aren't a case of induced memory.