This post is a perfect example of a stilted prism through which to view the world.
Brady came in because someone got hurt - CHECK, exactly as I said...and he wouldn't have had that chance on the Colts with a healthy Manning, or on a bunch of other teams with healthy starting QBs. Guys get drafted at QB in later rounds to hold clipboards, and most go through their tenure of 1-4 years doing nothing but. And how many teams kept 4 QBs?
Of course, Brady didn't play bad when he got that chance, correct, but neither did he light the world on fire (how's Gardner Minishew's career going?), Don't give me this myth-making nonsense. Go look at the 2001 game logs:
You think he'd have lasted after the 4 int Denver game on any other team if the starting QB came back from injury? Really?
When you produce a HoF QB that lasts for 20 years, you probably don't have many other chances, you know? And several New England backups have had decent careers elsewhere.
And yes, he had something special, and as I said, he had coaches who SAW THAT SOMETHING. That, too, is never a guarantee. Michigan?
Of course Brady had something - I said that.
I didn't say the coach made the QB. Nor did I even hint that Brady didn't take full advantage of the opportunity he got. He's one of the great success stories of our time, and is spoken of next to guys like Jordan and Russell, correctly. But guess what? It took circumstances beyond Brady's control to even get that opportunity.
That's the beauty of it all, by the way, and not the criticism. Look at the razor edge between dynasty and meh. What happens if they don't call the tuck play in '01 and the Pats melt down in '02 as they did? What happens if Bledsoe's ready to come back after the Denver game? What happens if Bledsoe never gets hurt? Does BB really dump a healthy $100million QB? Does Kraft let him?