Drew Bledsoe E:60

QuantumMechanic said:

A very short time. He had four or five good plays in the first half. But the second half was . For starters there was the ball thrown right to the breadbasket of a LB who thankfully dropped it. And the ball flung backwards over his head while being sacked that also thankfully landed on the turf harmlessly.

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We were lucky to hang on at the end

1960Pats said:

ESPN1,2,3 or 100, it doesn't matter. I won't be watching.

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I'm partial to ESPN8, The Ocho.

PatsFanInVa said:

If we didn't win the freakin lottery with Brady we'd still be talking about Drew as an all time Patriots great. He gets compared and trashed because of the chronology of the Advent of the Chosen One.

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If Belichick does what Berry did then we lose in '01, miss the playoffs, and again continue to spend eternity in obscurity while Tom goes and wins a bunch of titles somewhere else.

fnordcircle said:

I dearly wish we could have seen a full career from Robert Edwards. I'm 99% sure it was a game against the Colts where he ran through 90% of their defense that made me a fan. Which was a tough task given that, at that point, Curtis Martin was my all-time favorite Patriot and Robert replaced him.

I feel so, so bad for guys like Robert and Malcolm Mitchell. I'm much happier living my casual life than having come to the cusp of NFL greatness only to lose out due to freak injuries.

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An absolute fluke-freak injury by Robert Edwards. He had a very good rookie year despite the horrible run blocking he was running in front of and how fierce run defenses were back in the late 90’s.

Katzenmoyer showed a ton of promise as well as he was supposed to be that Brian Urlacher type LB.

TheRainMaker said:

An absolute fluke-freak injury by Robert Edwards. He had a very good rookie year despite the horrible run blocking he was running in front of and how fierce run defenses were back in the late 90’s.

Katzenmoyer showed a ton of promise as well as he was supposed to be that Brian Urlacher type LB.

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I loved Robert and I think he would have been fantastic here. Really sad for him, especially since his comeback attempt failed.

Actual Pats Fan said:

If Belichick does what Berry did then we lose in '01, miss the playoffs, and again continue to spend eternity in obscurity while Tom goes and wins a bunch of titles somewhere else.

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I don't know what choice you're talking about that Berry made differently vs. Chicago, in the above, but I'll take it on faith that "What Berry did" is a real pitfall that BB somehow dodged. Maybe "Play the 85 Bears" is what you're thinking of. Anyway, Stipulating that you're right. It can also be true that Drew was a great guy, but was just not Tom. Again, he'd still be much loved and ballyhooed by New England fans if we didn't get the ultimate golden ticket in our proverbial Wonka Bar that year. It is funny seeing him go "WTF, I thought this guy would just hold my clipboard, I loved this guy."

This got bumped for wall to wall Kobe Bryant coverage... Anyone know when it's going to be on?

borg said:

Gillette is “The House That Drew Built”

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very true.
With Belichick as the architect, Drew built the house. Brady made it a home.

PittPatriot said:

very true.
With Belichick as the architect, Drew built the house. Brady made it a home.

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The Pats had as much success in the 70's and 80's as they had in the 90's. If not for a horrendous call by Ben Dreith the Pats would have had their first SB title in 1976 instead of 2001.

It seems like many fans want to paint the picture that the Pats were nothing until Drew (and to some fans, Tuna) came along. That simply isn't true. I'm guessing that it's an age thing.

1960Pats said:

The Pats had as much success in the 70's and 80's as they had in the 90's. If not for a horrendous call by Ben Dreith the Pats would have had their first SB title in 1976 instead of 2001.

It seems like many fans want to paint the picture that the Pats were nothing until Drew (and to some fans, Tuna) came along. That simply isn't true. I'm guessing that it's an age thing.

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I agree, but we had 6 terrible years before Drew and he got us back in the playoffs and moving forward.

Some Pats fans will manufacture a slight about Brady or the team out of the tiniest of crumbs. I think they get more upset about that than if someone actually insulted them, or a member of their family.

Bledsoe is one of the all-time great Patriots, and a fiery competitor, and just on the edge of a playoff run, he gets a (literally) life threatening injury and is replaced by a guy who looked like a perennial backup to nearly everyone. And can't get the job back for the biggest game of his life. Of course he had some stuff to work through with that at the time. Now, he seems at peace with it, which is to his credit.

Why find some reason to be angry or dissatisfied?

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

I wouldn’t judge Bledsoe if he went to Belichick and argued for his job back. That’s being a competitor. In fact I’d be disappointed in a guy like that if he didn’t try desperately to win it back. That’s quite a lot different than, say, starting a mutiny against Brady with some of the veterans he knew. There’s no reports of anything like that.

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fnordcircle said:

Agree. Some people are completely missing the point. Brady's success is undeniable. Bledsoe's comments are clearly not intended to undermine that but to buoy it.

I can't give Drew enough credit because being overtaken by a no-name 6th round backup who goes on to become the GOAT must be incredibly difficult to accept. Yet Drew, in keeping with the person he demonstrated he was time and time again, does so with grace.

I love Drew and I'm glad that Brady replaced him. There is no cognitive dissonance in holding those views.

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1960Pats said:

The Pats had as much success in the 70's and 80's as they had in the 90's. If not for a horrendous call by Ben Dreith the Pats would have had their first SB title in 1976 instead of 2001.

It seems like many fans want to paint the picture that the Pats were nothing until Drew (and to some fans, Tuna) came along. That simply isn't true. I'm guessing that it's an age thing.

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Fan support skyrocketed when #1 pick Bledsoe came on board and the team embraced an aerial attack. It was only because of this heightened level of interest that Kraft felt financially secure enough to personally finance the new stadium.
Would love to know the season ticket/waiting list numbers before and after drafting Bledsoe.

borg said:

Fan support skyrocketed when #1 pick Bledsoe came on board and the team embraced an aerial attack. It was only because of this heightened level of interest that Kraft felt financially secure enough to personally finance the new stadium.
Would love to know the season ticket/waiting list numbers before and after drafting Bledsoe.

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There was no waiting list pre Bledsoe, great seats were available for season tickets in the early 90s.

I didn't get to see any of this last night. It didn't air because of the death of Kobe.

SVN said:

There was also the story appparently (in michael holley's book ?) where he went to bb and said that he should start the SB not brady because of his experience.
Drew is a good guy for sure. He just couldnt handle being a backup or for that matter accepting that someone ahead was better than him.

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I don't blame him. He is competitive and at the time, i think he was the highest paid QB in history.

borg said:

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Would love to know the season ticket/waiting list numbers before and after drafting Bledsoe.

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They couldn't give tix away back then.

My college years were before Bledsoe and his rookie year. 4 tix, case of beer, parking and 4 hot dogs was $100.

PatsFanInVa said:

I don't know what choice you're talking about that Berry made differently

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Benching Flutie last two games in '88...thereby making those...the last two games in '88 for us

But also, likewise starting Eason in Denver Jan. '87 after Grogan won the division for us, and, yes, doing the same in Super Bowl XX with Grogan healthy and active and the main, single reason the team was competitive that year.

Berry expected Eason to morph into Dan Marino, and also apparently expected the team to get a million turnovers as they had the previous four must win games. Against the best team in the league.

1960Pats said:

The Pats had as much success in the 70's and 80's as they had in the 90's.

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The Pats had much more success in the 70's and 80's than they did in the 90's.

cmasspatsfan said:

There was no waiting list pre Bledsoe, great seats were available for season tickets in the early 90s.

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There was no waiting list pre Parcells, great seats were available for season tickets in the early 90s.

1960Pats said:

I'm guessing that it's an age thing.

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An intelligence thing.

And a propaganda thing. Led by, yes, thanks for buying us, keeping us here and hiring Belichick, but...Bob Kraft. He never "fell in love" with our real helmets and uniforms, Steve Grogan, or the team prior to 1993.

PatsFanInVa said:

If we didn't win the freakin lottery with Brady we'd still be talking about Drew as an all time Patriots great. He gets compared and trashed because of the chronology of the Advent of the Chosen One.

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I was trashing Drew since '97. Nice guy, strong arm, period.

I know he was still pretty young at the time, but if he'd checked down and handed the stupid ball to Curtis in the SuperDome we might have won that one, and, well, he'd have inched closer (but never) to Grogan.

Still half a dozen guys vastly more worthy than Drew of being in Patriots' HOF who aren't.

robertweathers said:

They couldn't give tix away back then.

My college years were before Bledsoe and his rookie year. 4 tix, case of beer, parking and 4 hot dogs was $100.

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Back when you went to the games in a foot-powered rock car don't count, Fred.