Drew Bledsoe radio interview

[Ring 6]

I havent read many of the replies, which is good, because I usually tend to end up arguing one side or the other on Drew, because for the most part Pats fans are sharply divided between being way too critical and giving way too much credit. So here I can speak freely without responding to anyone. We'll see what that brings.

-I dismiss all of the "Drew saved the franchise" stuff, because its a tool to make him look better than he was.
-I also dismiss the antithesis where he was solely resposnible for the franchises meltdown up to 9/01.
-I diminish the volume numbers because volume doesnt equal quality.
-I give him a + for the level of talent that was needed surrounding him to succeed.

I know that no QB ever led a team to more success saddled with a bottom 5 running game than Drew Bledsoe. (I used to know the numbers, and it was something like only 8 teams ever had made the playoff with bottom 5 running games, and 4 were Bledsoes Pats, and I think he was the only to even win a playoff game with those teams, much less a division and get to a SB)
I know that early in his career, we won because of his strengths, and later his weaknesses were exposed and he was a big part of the decline. In other words up until about 1999, Bledsoe made us a lot better team that the average QB would have, but after that, his contributions were consistent with our mediocre and worse results.

Its hard to rate him overall, because after defenses began to exploit his weakensses, to seemed to get to him and changed him for the worse. I really think he was 2 different players in 2 different halves of his career.
If I had to rate him overall, I would choose above average. If I could split it I would say Very Good before and Below Average after that point in his career where he clearly declined, mostly mentally.

I don't have an emotional attachment positive or negative. I'm very neutral because I was a huge Bledsoe fan, and supporter, but then saw the flaws in my own evaluation of him before my eyes in Tom Brady. My bias toward Drew wore off, but wasnt replaced by malice or bias against.

Its easy to say he was our 2nd best QB ever, because there is no competition for that title.
Overall, though, I do consider the sum total of his time as a Pat (as a Pats fan, and his whole career as an NFL Fan) to be a disappointment. I think the expectations were higher than the end result. I know my expectations from the mid and late 90s was for him to become the best QB in the NFL and lead us to Championships. I kind of forgot my disappointment though, because before it could set in, I got my expectations from #12.

 

[Ring 6]

Also, I neither give him credit for 'being a great teammate' in 2001, because I dont think he was, public perception aside, nor for being a distraction or detriment because whatever really happened ended up harmless in the end.

 

[signbabybrady]

Got it, from now on whenever discussing Bledsoe only nice things may be said about him or peoples feelings will get hurt. Is that it?

That isnt what I meant.....If you are in a discussion about how good he was than feel free to point out all his flaws but in this interview and discussion that followed I dont see the need to bash the guy either show your respect or move on.

I guess maybe he opened the discussion with some of his comments from this article but that is mute because anytime his name comes up on here the haters come out and I just dont see the need.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

Its easy to say he was our 2nd best QB ever, because there is no competition for that title.
Overall, though, I do consider the sum total of his time as a Pat (as a Pats fan, and his whole career as an NFL Fan) to be a disappointment. I think the expectations were higher than the end result. I know my expectations from the mid and late 90s was for him to become the best QB in the NFL and lead us to Championships. I kind of forgot my disappointment though, because before it could set in, I got my expectations from #12.

+1

In addition I had lost any and all confidence in Bledsoe being able to deliver
anything other than average when it counted. Simply stated, he had let the
game pass him by with his laissez-faire work ethic and entitlement attitude.
I was pissed at BB for starting him at all that year as he hadn't earned that
starting position coming out of TC, Brady had. It's a shame as Bledsoe had
everything physically you could want in a QB. His only shortcoming was the
lack of the passion and desire to excel. I'm sure if you asked him he would
mock that statement, but he did some of the dumbest things with a football
that I have ever seen.

 

[BradyFTW!]

+1

In addition I had lost any and all confidence in Bledsoe being able to deliver
anything other than average when it counted. Simply stated, he had let the
game pass him by with his laissez-faire work ethic and entitlement attitude.
I was pissed at BB for starting him at all that year as he hadn't earned that
starting position coming out of TC, Brady had. It's a shame as Bledsoe had
everything physically you could want in a QB. His only shortcoming was the
lack of the passion and desire to excel. I'm sure if you asked him he would
mock that statement, but he did some of the dumbest things with a football
that I have ever seen.

Just a pet peeve of mine, but guys who lack passion and the desire to excel get weeded out LONG before they make it to the NFL, let alone become a highly productive player in the league. Even lazy players work their asses of by any normal standard, with only extremely rare exceptions. Bledsoe may lack Brady's obsessive passion for football, but that doesn't mean that he didn't have desire to excel.

 

[APatrioticVirginian]

I see the Patriots as a Luxury Car. You get a flat do you patch that tire. Or do you put a brand new one on? Bledsoe was busted. Brady had them shiny black walls and deep tread and the way he hugged the road. You just new that new tire could take you anywhere. So you take the busted tire throw it in the trunk, you will probably hear that tire rattle around a bit but dont worry. Eventually you decide to quiet that noise in your trunk, you see a hillBILLy on the side of the road you tell him this tire came off a Ferrarri. He offers you his unborn child for it. You go on to win 3 Superbowls.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I have never believed that it is right for a player to lose his job due to injury. When an injured player comes back, he should get his job back. He was injured going all out for the team, after all. When players lose their jobs to injuries, it makes other players wonder about sacrificing their bodies.

Perhaps I'm not sentimental enough, but I've never agreed with that thought. I think you owe it to everyone to let the best man play. Is it fair to the better player who has likely worked just as hard if not harder than the other player to go back and sit on the bench because an injured player returns? Of course not. But that's what you're advocating.

Sure, it hurts mentally and emotionally to lose your starting role because of an injury. But that doesn't mean it wasn't time for a change.

Bledsoe didn't lose his starting job because he was injured; he lost his starting job because he was no longer the best player at that position. The injury just allowed that truth to be more clearly exposed.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Your right. He shouldn't have lost the job due to the injury. He should have lost it in camp and Brady should have started on week 1 of the 2001 season. Brady outshined him in camp.

I can sympathize with that view. And if Bledsoe and Brady were running backs, that's exactly what would have happened.

But they're not running backs or wide receivers or cornerbacks. They are quarterbacks and there's a lot more to changing a QB than simply believing that a 2nd year player with little NFL experience edged out an 8-year NFL veteran - in training camp no less (how much credence do posters in this forum give to training camp success?) - who was just given a much ballyhooed $100,000,000 contract. QB controversies are no fun in the best of circumstances and pinning your hopes (as well as a target on his back) on Tom Brady before the season started would have been very risky and certainly upset the locker room chemistry.

There are times when the best player doesn't play for good and legitimate reasons; this was one of them. Remember, Bill Belichick didn't see the Patriots as a realistic Super Bowl contender at the start of the year (if I can read into his later comments about how the Patriots were "ahead of schedule" after they won the Super Bowl that year). Creating a QB controversy without the significant upside of potentially huge post-season success probably wasn't what he was looking for, I expect. The real surprise is that Tom Brady matured so quickly when forced into the starting role giving the Pats a real shot in the playoffs.

 

[DynastyDriven]

Just "very well"?

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

I can sympathize with that view. And if Bledsoe and Brady were running backs, that's exactly what would have happened.

But they're not running backs or wide receivers or cornerbacks. They are quarterbacks and there's a lot more to changing a QB than simply believing that a 2nd year player with little NFL experience edged out an 8-year NFL veteran - in training camp no less (how much credence do posters in this forum give to training camp success?) - who was just given a much ballyhooed $100,000,000 contract. QB controversies are no fun in the best of circumstances and pinning your hopes (as well as a target on his back) on Tom Brady before the season started would have been very risky and certainly upset the locker room chemistry.

There are times when the best player doesn't play for good and legitimate reasons; this was one of them. Remember, Bill Belichick didn't see the Patriots as a realistic Super Bowl contender at the start of the year (if I can read into his later comments about how the Patriots were "ahead of schedule" after they won the Super Bowl that year). Creating a QB controversy without the significant upside of potentially huge post-season success probably wasn't what he was looking for, I expect. The real surprise is that Tom Brady matured so quickly when forced into the starting role giving the Pats a real shot in the playoffs.

I understand why he didn't start at the begining of the season. And my post wasn't meant to take the hooded one out the the woodshed for being an idiot and starting the wrong QB.

My point was more along the lines that Brady had earned his way to the starting role and if anyone was being treated unfairly by the system it was Tom in being regulated to hold the clipboard for a QB that he was better than, than Drew for not getting his job back when he was healed.

 

[APatrioticVirginian]

Also, I neither give him credit for 'being a great teammate' in 2001, because I dont think he was, public perception aside, nor for being a distraction or detriment because whatever really happened ended up harmless in the end.

I agree, also Bledsoe always seemed to have a taking a hard crap face on.:snob:

 

[PatriotWarrior]

I read somewhere that Drew thinks if he would of been starting after his injury in 2001 that they still would of won the sb. he would of had more success if terry glenn wasn't always injured. it's just I was watching a interview of terry glenn on youtube and steve burton asked him who should start between bledsoe and brady. and glenn was like "obviously brady" this is the clip from the interview YouTube - Terry Glenn Interview (1 of 2)

this is a classic interview from 2001 that was on sports final. and he said I did d-i-d!

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Let me again give thanks that Drew's injury, unfortunate and life threating as it was, gave BB the opportunity to start Brady. I saw Brady & Bledsoe quite a bit in Smithfield in summer 2001 and Brady clearly played better. At that time BB was a failed HC (Cleveland) who went 5-11 with The Franchise as his QB. The rapport built on mutual success with Kraft was not yet in place.

I credit BB for having the cajones and sense to keep playing Brady and not following some illogical, wrong headed dictum that a player cannot lose his job to injury.

Obviously, it's never going to be easy for Drew to deal with what had to be a shocking and personally painful and devastating situation. Nothing in his prior athletic experience ever prepared him, with his physical talents and adulation, for the abrupt change in status. I'm glad to see him doing well post football, finding opportunity, success and a comfortable family life.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Obviously, it's never going to be easy for Drew to deal with what had to be a shocking and personally painful and devastating situation.

While I get that...shouldn't he be a bit more bitter and embarrassed by losing the starting job to a bum like JP Losman, than a future HOF like Brady.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

While I get that...shouldn't he be a bit more bitter and embarrassed by losing the starting job to a bum like JP Losman, than a future HOF like Brady.

Yah, but he's rightfully obsessed with the shock of the 1st time with 'the kid'.

JP is such a LOSAH but since it's the hinterlands of Buffalo, that's an embarrasment known just by a few. Geting yanked in a national telecast for Romo was more public. I remember the play. Drew at the 10, deep in the red zone, goes away from the play the Tuner called and tosses a pick to his left blowing 7 points. In comes Romo. Out goes Drew, forevah.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Yes, it does. I agree. And I would expect nothing less of Bledsoe or any other professional athlete worth their salt.

I would expect any competitive, successful professional athlete (much less, one with the accomplishments and experience of Bledsoe) to feel the same as Bledsoe expresses in that above quote.

Well said. Bledsoe - likely to this day - feels that if he had been in any of those games that season, and in subsequent seasons with the team that was built in New England, he would have been as successful, if not more successful than Brady.

While I'd disagree with his assessment, the fact that he potentially believes that is what I'd expect from Bledsoe - and is in part why I've always liked and admired Bledsoe.

He was a tough, talented QB - and could well have brought us a Super Bowl. But the bottom line is that Brady was better - therefore things also worked out exactly as they should have as far as I'm concerned.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I'm the opposite, I think the "you can't lose your job because of an injury" is stupid. If you've played for years and established your level, get hurt and the guy replacing you plays better than that level then . . . you lose your job.

As harsh as it sounds, every word you wrote is true. I also think that no one understands this better than Tom Brady, which is why the Pats will have to pay up to keep him and would be wise to get the deal done before next year. Sure, he'll take a small discount to stay with the winning formula in Foxboro, but anything short of top three QB money and I'd bet he'll walk. It's a cruel game and this will be his last chance to cash a big check.

 

[APatrioticVirginian]

Well said. Bledsoe - likely to this day - feels that if he had been in any of those games that season, and in subsequent seasons with the team that was built in New England, he would have been as successful, if not more successful than Brady.

While I'd disagree with his assessment, the fact that he potentially believes that is what I'd expect from Bledsoe - and is in part why I've always liked and admired Bledsoe.

He was a tough, talented QB - and could well have brought us a Super Bowl. But the bottom line is that Brady was better - therefore things also worked out exactly as they should have as far as I'm concerned.

His mental makeup sucked, he laid an egg in Superbowl thirty one. But I fully blame that on the original football judas.

 

[eagle eye]

Yes, it does. I agree. And I would expect nothing less of Bledsoe or any other professional athlete worth their salt.

It sounds to me like he was expressing his feelings about the matter in an open, honest, and explicit manner. I respect that, and I can empathize with him. The fact that I can empathize with him does not mean that I feel he should have been handed back the reigns - au contraire. I was fully in the 'let the kid Brady continue' camp. I feel that BB did absolutely the right thing (20/20 hindsight is great )

I would expect any competitive, successful professional athlete (much less, one with the accomplishments and experience of Bledsoe) to feel the same as Bledsoe expresses in that above quote.

Excellent post. QFT

 

[Ryan]

His mental makeup sucked, he laid an egg in Superbowl thirty one.

I wouldn't say he laid an egg in that game. Yes, he threw 4 picks (3 because the last one clearly wasn't his fault) but the defense and special teams getting burned so many times has to be given a lot of the blame as well. The secondary was burned several times and the kick coverage unit could not stop Howard. Drew, despite the turnovers, moved the team down the field and lead them to 3 scores against that #1 defense. I'd say it was hardly laying an egg.