Brady at Michigan - all you ever wanted to know and more...

[MaizeNBlue]

Biased or not, I can't understand the logic of taking Tom out in some of those games. It clearly cost them the game in at least two of the contests they lost. After reading that it actually makes perfect sense how we ended up with a guy like Tom as our QB. It's crazy to read that college side of his script and see how it translates directly into his NFL career. We are so lucky to be living in the Tom Brady era. Even if he accomplishes NOTHING else he's already the greatest Patriots QB of all time, and arguably one of the best NFL QBs ever. All this after FIGHTING for a starting job in college and riding the pine as a fifth year senior. Unbelievable. I come away from that story with the feeling that Carr is an enormous dunderhead.

That is what Lloyd Carr usually does and how Lloyd Carr is, ESPECIALLY these days... He IS good person. I have NO doubt about that. BUT,,, when it comes to whether he is good coach or not, he certainly is NOT!

 

[Michigan Dave]

Biased or not, I can't understand the logic of taking Tom out in some of those games. It clearly cost them the game in at least two of the contests they lost. After reading that it actually makes perfect sense how we ended up with a guy like Tom as our QB. It's crazy to read that college side of his script and see how it translates directly into his NFL career. We are so lucky to be living in the Tom Brady era. Even if he accomplishes NOTHING else he's already the greatest Patriots QB of all time, and arguably one of the best NFL QBs ever. All this after FIGHTING for a starting job in college and riding the pine as a fifth year senior. Unbelievable. I come away from that story with the feeling that Carr is an enormous dunderhead.

First, I need to preface this by saying that while both guys are friends, at the time, I was firmly in the PLAY BRADY!!!!!!! camp. The things I saw from Tommy at practice made me know he'd make it in the league. It's why no former Wolverines are surprised with his success. BUT, Drew Henson as a freshman and sophomore was better than pretty much every BigTen QB save for Drew Brees. That's how deep the position was. The displays these guys put on in practice was SICK. Lloyd wasn't dumb for playing Drew, he was dumb for pulling Tommy. If Drew was our only QB, and was able to start and finish games, we'd have been very good. If Tommy was our only QB, we'd have been great, and my fingers would hurt typing this, because there would be a fat ring on my finger. At Michigan, it was always about competition. Still is. No one is given a job. Tommy pushed Brian Griese to the edge, and Brian was so much better for it. Brian won us a national title (the year before I got there. ). Drew pushed Tommy like he's never been pushed. It's vastly becoming lore the better and better Tommy gets as a pro that he was dogged at Michigan, not appreciated, and Henson was a prima donna, and that just isn't how it was. Tommy got the loudest cheers at senior day, his jersey sold the most, and he loved being there. There are absolutely things that everyday I wish would've been different. After the Syracuse game in 99, Lloyd probably should've killed the rotation. If we play Tommy against MSU the entire game, we win. We win that game, there's no way we lose to Illinois. But, the fact is that Tommy is proud of what he accomplished at Michigan, I'm just as honored now as I was then to have had such a great leader on our team, and Michigan fans all love Tommy.

 

[Michigan Dave]

That is what Lloyd Carr usually does and how Lloyd Carr is, ESPECIALLY these days... He IS good person. I have NO doubt about that. BUT,,, when it comes to whether he is good coach or not, he certainly is NOT!

No. Lloyd is a great coach. He's just way too loyal. I think this season we'll see a different Michigan team, since he finally got rid of our coordinators. The loyalty lasted 1 season too many.

 

[marty]

Thanks for the inside info Dave! You're lucky to have been on site during those years!!!

 

[smg93]

That's an awesome inside story to the inside story Dave! Really enjoyed that.

 

[smg93]

I found a story on Drew Henson on nfl.com that is pretty interesting. It's a good article.

http://nfleurope.com/news/story/9294808

 

[bresna]

This article was an interesting read. Thanks for posting it.

One thing that I was wondering is, where is Tai Streets today? He's mentioned several times in this article as one of Brady's "go to" guys at Michigan. He's a street free agent now so why not give him a call and see of he can do better than David Terrell did last pre-season? Did he blow out his knee or something? He had a pretty good year at SF in 2002.

 

[milwaukeebeers44]

Glad to see other Michigan alums on here!!

God, I hate Lloyd Carr. That man couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. If he ran ONE MORE TIME on 3rd and long, I think Ann Arbor would have collectively hung itself.

 

[the taildragger]

from author

thanks for the insight "Michigan Dave!" I always appreciate a direct take from the guys on those teams.

Just to clear up a few things..I've never been involved with Michigan in any way. I have nothing against the school and respect the tradition at UM, but I'd never identify myself as a fan per se. I am a passionate college football fan in a general sense. In terms of a "slant," my only objective was to present the facts -- through articles and first-person accounts -- and let you the reader make up your own mind. I went to pretty extreme lengths to get source material for this very reason -- rather than merely present my own opinions/commentary.

As Michigan Dave alluded, Tom shifted fan sentiment in his favor by winning games and playing well -- and that's the inspiring bit to the story, that he overcame the odds. Although the deck was stacked against him from the start, the local press -- with a few exceptions -- was largely in Tom's favor from the start...I have also evidenced this throughout.

As Michigan Dave also points out, the players were largely in favor of playing Tom...Lloyd Carr knew this. Although I don't know Drew, by all accounts he's a great guy...seems to be doing ok with the Rhein Fire too But I want to emhpasize that there was heavy political pressure on Carr that the players (and many coaches) did not understand. I also want to emphasize that it was indeed a very difficult experience for Tom -- many, but not all, of the players knew this too...but TB would agree with Michigan Dave that it helped make him who he is today. No hard feelings...

For what it's worth, Tom's dad enjoyed it as did his future biographer CP Pierce -- I'm also involved with the book which is currently scheduled to come out near the end of the year.

I'm glad some of you enjoyed it...thanks for the feedback.

cheers!
Brendan
Cambridge

p.s. I'm sure it's on the longish side -- my goal was to be as comprehensive and definitive as possible -- so I had to sacrifice the idea of an "easy read." I hope you'll still find it rewarding to trudge through in any event.