WEEI's Kirk Minihane and Drew Bledsoe Podcast Full Transcript

[RobertWeathers]

Bledsoe actually had crummy results that game. Still -- if they'd been worse yet the Pats might not have won. And Brady's were poor too; the Pats only scored 10 points on offense the whole game.

So I say Bledsoe was an effective backup QB and thus made a significant on-field contribution to the AFCC and thus to the eventual championship.

Yep. Pitt had the #1 defense in the NFL that year and Drew hadn't played in 4 1/2 months. All things considered under the circumstances Drew did fine and to your point just enough.

 

[Fencer]

Yep. Pitt had the #1 defense in the NFL that year and Drew hadn't played in 4 1/2 months. All things considered under the circumstances Drew did fine and to your point just enough.

Bledsoe was a Super Bowl loser as a starter and a Super Bowl champion as a backup who played a little over a half of the previous elimination game. That's a better championship resume than most QBs will ever have. On average I'd guess ~1 QB per season enters the league who'll ever have that level of postseason success. Certainly no other QB his draft year did ... although Mark Brunell was FG holder for the championship Saints.

 

[oldrover]

Great shot.... and the bonus:

One of Pitt's most embarrassing losses ever. Heh. Cancel those Super Bowl reservations, boys.

 

[meatface]

Bledsoe actually had crummy results that game. Still -- if they'd been worse yet the Pats might not have won. And Brady's were poor too; the Pats only scored 10 points on offense the whole game.

So I say Bledsoe was an effective backup QB and thus made a significant on-field contribution to the AFCC and thus to the eventual championship.

in that one specific game he hasn't anything special, but he did have a career here before 2001.

 

[Bill Lee]

Thought this was one of the best interviews we've seen from Drew since he retired, and it had a lot of great quotes that left me a little surprised that it didn't get more play and that's what lead me to transcribe this. It's really well done for those of you who liked Drew as a player and there were some great moments in this.

Truly a labor of love, Ian. Kudos to you.

Side Note: I sometimes wonder how many rings Bledsoe would have if that whole Parcells/Kraft "shopping for groceries" crap had been handled differently.

Bledsoe himself points out in the interview how Greir et al were given a big haul of draft picks and didn't deliver on them, so it's worth wondering 'what if'....

Bledsoe was damn good but it wasn't long after Brady took over that I felt like Bledsoe had lost his job. Brady just seemed to play calm under pressure and didn't throw the inopportune pick.

In the interview in #21, Drew himself points the key difference out, that TB12 excels at reading defenses and knowing what it is that he can do to find the best match-up. Some of the earliest posts I remember reading here were about 'The Statue', the deer in the headlights look, etc.

Here's a great slightly awkward interview with Brady and Bledsoe before Super Bowl 36.

Clearly the producer loves Steely Dan: Bodisattva, Babylon Sisters, Do It Again -- Marone!

That is fascinating. Brady looks like a kid!!! And Drew complimented Brady on his game prep and in game adjustments.

And busts on him for his clothes. Obviously this insult caused Tom to seek out Gisele!

Yet the video in #21 shows how Drew was making the best of a bad situation. As he says in the featured interview he already knew TB12 was taking his job away and he still was able to deal with it pretty well, a lot better than many others we've seen in similar spots. I still remember the interviews right after the win in the 2001 SB with his dad finally saying the obvious, that all of this was really hard on Drew.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I think I'm going to throw up. Good for Orthwein, he signed a former SB-winning coach and drafted a QB #1. Very nice. They are both apparently very nice people, and they accepted $millions to come here. Parcells could be ranked 5th among all-time Patriots coaches; Bledsoe might rank 5th for all-time Pats QB's. Things were tough beforehand, but no tougher than the homeless '60's (remember players shoveling snow off Fenway before a big game against the Bills?). So Orthwein didn't (couldn't) drag the team to St. Louis. It was Kraft who put his own money on the line for the stadium. Nothing personal, but the four better, more significant coaches and four better and courageous quarterbacks ahead of them contributed far more to the franchise for a fraction of the money.

 

[signbabybrady]

I think I'm going to throw up. Good for Orthwein, he signed a former SB-winning coach and drafted a QB #1. Very nice. They are both apparently very nice people, and they accepted $millions to come here. Parcells could be ranked 5th among all-time Patriots coaches; Bledsoe might rank 5th for all-time Pats QB's. Things were tough beforehand, but no tougher than the homeless '60's (remember players shoveling snow off Fenway before a big game against the Bills?). So Orthwein didn't (couldn't) drag the team to St. Louis. It was Kraft who put his own money on the line for the stadium. Nothing personal, but the four better, more significant coaches and four better and courageous quarterbacks ahead of them contributed far more to the franchise for a fraction of the money.