4/23/1993: Patriots pick Drew Bledsoe #1 Overall

[Ryan]

If it weren't for Drew Bledsoe, who knows if I even end up a Patriots fan, or even a football fan. I just remember hearing a lot of excitement about the guy when I was very young and taking an interest because of it. Obviously 28 years later, here I am still a huge fan of the team, and a huge fan of Drew. I actually just bought a 90s throwback Bledsoe jersey at the pro shop a few weeks back. Loved watching him, and love all he did for the team. Definitely a good guy too.

 

[RobertWeathers]

That was a good day.

With Tuna and then Drew, after 4 years of darkness there was finally hope. Hope is a good thing, the best of things.

 

[Zuma]

Drew gave us hope where Hugh Millen and Tommy Hodson didn’t. I loved Drew.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Bill bought those groceries, right? Pre-Kraft

ProJo Patriots Moments: Bill Parcells hired as head coach

Over the course of the week leading up to Super Bowl LII between the Patriots and Eagles, providencejournal.com will each day highlight the defining moments of the Patriots franchise over the last 25…

www.providencejournal.com

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

That was a good day.

With Tuna and then Drew, after 4 years of darkness there was finally hope. Hope is a good thing, the best of things.

Flutie took all the hope with him to Canada.

 

[Ununcle]

I like your avatar. I have come to realize that Led Zeppelin was the greatest rock band of all time, all things considered.

You have good taste I kept trying to find a good player but they always tend to move on and most people have them . I said screw it and went with Page. I had that poster on my wall when I was a teenager. He's probably not a Pat's fan, but I'm not going with Bon Jovi.

 

[Ununcle]

Especially if the Beatles never existed, like in that movie

What movie was that? I wouldn't want to live in a world without The Beatles. Those are 2 bands I couldn't even decide who I enjoy more.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

WHY and HOW was Brady correlated to winning, if not by yards or touchdowns? Maybe that he threw "only" 12 interceptions? What, did he make Antowain Smith get the absolute BEST 4 ypc he could get?

First, your opinion/evaluation was shared by most pro football analysts, observers and media. But unlike them, I don't consider you to be an idiot.

This particular query is highly similar to people trying to comprehend/explain away Doug Flutie's success in his likewise first extended stint as an NFL starter here in 1988. His résumé was much flashier than Tom's, but he was six inches shorter. One of the annoying facts is that Brady and Montana had their fare share of bad plays and games in the beginning, as did hundreds of other quarterbacks astronomically inferior to Flutie, yet were given the chance to grow solely because they weren't short. Both Flutie and Brady passed the eye test by making clutch, pressure, game-winning plays, by not making the game-losing plays, and having the attitude and personality makeup of a serious leader and winner. As did Grogan in 1976, for that matter. Both the 1988 and 2001 Patriots had extensive playoff and Super Bowl experience, a veteran coaching staff, and beat good teams. Bledsoe had been losing so many games that by 2001 I just wanted somebody in there who wouldn't screw up; Brady just brought much more to the table than anyone bargained for. Flutie's ability on the other hand was blindingly obvious - but not to the aforementioned idiots, including NFL GM's and coaches. Leadership. Clutch. Didn't get hurt. Unselfish. Brady's toughest task in 2002 was the absolutely drastic life-altering change from JAG to NEW ENGLAND HERO. Don't even start about the girls. I don't think Tom even had a girlfriend before, at least not that I know of. Anyway, the potential for Brady - and the Patriots with him - was limitless, as it was with Flutie. Of course Doug had lots of time in the limelight, and was married already. Kiam was so stupid.

It's all about context. But it was obvious that the entire offense felt better and stronger under Flutie and Brady.

2001 was not a lights-out season, APF.

Dan Marino and Kurt Warner are exceptions. Aikman/Elway/Manning/Young are more typical. The Parcells/Belichick approach was never 'lights-out'.

Give me a sane argument, ignoring 2002-on, that Tom Brady was going to be the future of the NFL. You can't do it. We just know that he gave John Madden goosebumps.

Plenty people have called me crazy, including Massarotti in '13 when I was so impressed with the Sox offseason, and with their veterans and experience and everyone so determined to put the distaste of 2012 in the rear view mirror, I felt they would win the World Series.

Since September 30, 2001 I felt that Tom Brady gave the Patriots the best chance to win. More than any other quarterback, anywhere. I know I'm a rebel and don't swim in the mainstream; a big part of it was that he WAS young, and had the chance to develop himself as Grogan did. Did I reconsider when Tom had his clunkers (and there were a few): No. Was I jumping up and down screaming, "WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL!!!" after losing 31-0 on opening day? Well, no. But I did look forward to the next game. EVERYONE on the Patriots learned the lesson under Belichick that you do not dwell on the past, but focus on the next task. It's the same to this day. The anti-Cam crowd is legion, but will I be surprised if we win it all with Newton starting? No. Not at all. I'm not an optimist. But I agreed with the Patriots' commitment to Tom in 2002: I felt he was the future for the Patriots. And the future of the league? Well after getting three rings in four years, even all the Patriots denigration/system quarterback nonsense was bound to suffer some cracks. The cheating nonsense a few years later was driven in no small part by underestimation of Brady's ability.

'We' are casual observers who care about John Madden's opinion. Non-casual observers know he enabled and empowered both Dreith and Tatum to commit what they did.

The opposite of your follow-up thought is the case; Brady was the Eason analogue here - he won enough to get us further than we'd gotten before. Eason got awarded the Kingdom for making it to the SB, and he had the follow-up seasons that Brady COULD have had, given what we knew of Brady at the end of the 01 season.... except that Brady turned out to be something else again.

Off the rails. We won because of Grogan. Period. The team made spectacular plays running, on defense and special teams in the playoff run in '85 and the winning streak in '86. I had zero confidence that Eason would win for us - it was just an enjoyable bonus. Grogan bailed us out in '85, '86 and another real analogue Flutie did as well in '88. Eason was awarded the kingdom because he (pay attention here and see if this reminds you of anyone):

Was drafted in the first round
Had a good arm
Was paid handsomely
Was given the starting job, did not earn it
Wore #11
Threw a slew of picks and got sacked, both in game on the line situations
We only won because he got hurt

Eason and Bledsoe made good plays for us, yes. The idea that either of them had the leadership or intangibles of Grogan, Flutie or Brady is not...sane. You could make a good numerical case that Neil Lomax was better than Joe Montana. You could...

Bedsore was a no brainer pick in 1993...Grier had zero input...none was needed.

Anybody like my nickname, 'Who Said So?'

That was a great season, but for Brady it wasn't some kind of lights-out, 4-TDs-per-game-on-the-regular performance. His stats were low, his wins were not blowouts or anything

And Montana did not light the world on fire in 1981.

Games describable as 'blowouts' for:

1981 49ers: 3
2001 Patriots: 3

he was anything but a sure-bet better QB than Drew, even after that SB

To you, I'm certifiably insane, period. Brady was absolutely, positively, incontrovertably a sure-bet better QB than Drew. Not close at all.

But, I want to win. That's my priority. Unseld, Reed, Thurmond, Chamberlain and Mikan can all be made out to be better than Russell.

It took guts to make that call.

Guts - and awareness. But Eason was always Berry's blind spot. For Raymond: Not Grogan, Flutie, Montana, Unitas, Staubach nor Brady was ever going to start ahead of Tony.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

What movie was that? I wouldn't want to live in a world without The Beatles. Those are 2 bands I couldn't even decide who I enjoy more.

Yesterday (2019) ⭐ 6.8 | Comedy, Fantasy, Music

1h 56m | PG-13

www.imdb.com

Yesterday (2019 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mrs. APF watched it. She liked it, but says it has a lousy ending.

Maybe I'll watch it some day. I'd rather see Life of Brian.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

A Patricia Patriot? I like it...And my wife approves too...

Pencil man/Matt also approves

 

[VJCPatriot]

Bledsoe changed the fortunes of the Patriots.

They went from becoming the joke of the league, to actual playoff contenders.

Drew Bledsoe was a great Patriot.

Yes in hindsight he was a bridge to the greatest QB of all time in Tom Brady.

But Drew did a lot of good work for us and helped turn around this team from being the 'lovable losers' into the franchise that would be feared and hated by opposing fan bases for constantly winning over the decades.

Thanks for your contributions Drew, you were truly a great Patriot.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Flutie took all the hope with him to Canada.

He was lucky to get out when he did.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Fans in general were sold, but there was a small pro-Drew minority still around.

I think it was like 1998 where the nickname 'The Statue' started getting tossed around though, it seemed we could sense what was coming.

I wonder if Brady got the mildly derogatory 'game manager' tag because he was so good at knowing what the defense was doing and throwing the ball away when it was clear the play was breaking down. Fans were just not used to that style of play back then.

Unfortunately for Drew he never learned that style, he was the coach's son and raised to be a hero, he was gonna go for everything he could get even when it might have made sense to get out of the play early:



At least Drew got a measure of revenge:

at the time, I vividly remember "keeping a cool head" and saying "I'm not sure we kept the right guy."

First, your opinion/evaluation was shared by most pro football analysts, observers and media. But unlike them, I don't consider you to be an idiot.

I don't remember which side of the fence I was reflecting, but I think you mean most people thought Drew was the guy? I'm going by memory but most of the world seemed Brady-crazed to me (and it turns out they were right.)

This particular query is highly similar to people trying to comprehend/explain away Doug Flutie's success in his likewise first extended stint as an NFL starter here in 1988. His résumé was much flashier than Tom's, but he was six inches shorter. One of the annoying facts is that Brady and Montana had their fare share of bad plays and games in the beginning, as did hundreds of other quarterbacks astronomically inferior to Flutie, yet were given the chance to grow solely because they weren't short. Both Flutie and Brady passed the eye test by making clutch, pressure, game-winning plays, by not making the game-losing plays, and having the attitude and personality makeup of a serious leader and winner. As did Grogan in 1976, for that matter. Both the 1988 and 2001 Patriots had extensive playoff and Super Bowl experience, a veteran coaching staff, and beat good teams. Bledsoe had been losing so many games that by 2001 I just wanted somebody in there who wouldn't screw up; Brady just brought much more to the table than anyone bargained for. Flutie's ability on the other hand was blindingly obvious - but not to the aforementioned idiots, including NFL GM's and coaches. Leadership. Clutch. Didn't get hurt. Unselfish. Brady's toughest task in 2002 was the absolutely drastic life-altering change from JAG to NEW ENGLAND HERO. Don't even start about the girls. I don't think Tom even had a girlfriend before, at least not that I know of. Anyway, the potential for Brady - and the Patriots with him - was limitless, as it was with Flutie. Of course Doug had lots of time in the limelight, and was married already. Kiam was so stupid.

It's all about context. But it was obvious that the entire offense felt better and stronger under Flutie and Brady.

Good point regarding potential, whereas Drew was a known-ish quantity. Then again, we were in the era where Elway was finally dragged over the finish line a couple times, so...

Dan Marino and Kurt Warner are exceptions. Aikman/Elway/Manning/Young are more typical. The Parcells/Belichick approach was never 'lights-out'.


Plenty people have called me crazy, including Massarotti in '13 when I was so impressed with the Sox offseason, and with their veterans and experience and everyone so determined to put the distaste of 2012 in the rear view mirror, I felt they would win the World Series.

Since September 30, 2001 I felt that Tom Brady gave the Patriots the best chance to win. More than any other quarterback, anywhere. I know I'm a rebel and don't swim in the mainstream; a big part of it was that he WAS young, and had the chance to develop himself as Grogan did. Did I reconsider when Tom had his clunkers (and there were a few): No. Was I jumping up and down screaming, "WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL!!!" after losing 31-0 on opening day? Well, no. But I did look forward to the next game. EVERYONE on the Patriots learned the lesson under Belichick that you do not dwell on the past, but focus on the next task. It's the same to this day. The anti-Cam crowd is legion, but will I be surprised if we win it all with Newton starting? No. Not at all. I'm not an optimist. But I agreed with the Patriots' commitment to Tom in 2002: I felt he was the future for the Patriots. And the future of the league? Well after getting three rings in four years, even all the Patriots denigration/system quarterback nonsense was bound to suffer some cracks. The cheating nonsense a few years later was driven in no small part by underestimation of Brady's ability.

'We' are casual observers who care about John Madden's opinion. Non-casual observers know he enabled and empowered both Dreith and Tatum to commit what they did.


Off the rails. We won because of Grogan. Period. The team made spectacular plays running, on defense and special teams in the playoff run in '85 and the winning streak in '86. I had zero confidence that Eason would win for us - it was just an enjoyable bonus. Grogan bailed us out in '85, '86 and another real analogue Flutie did as well in '88. Eason was awarded the kingdom because he (pay attention here and see if this reminds you of anyone):

Was drafted in the first round
Had a good arm
Was paid handsomely
Was given the starting job, did not earn it
Wore #11
Threw a slew of picks and got sacked, both in game on the line situations
We only won because he got hurt

Eason and Bledsoe made good plays for us, yes. The idea that either of them had the leadership or intangibles of Grogan, Flutie or Brady is not...sane. You could make a good numerical case that Neil Lomax was better than Joe Montana. You could...


Anybody like my nickname, 'Who Said So?'


And Montana did not light the world on fire in 1981.

Games describable as 'blowouts' for:

1981 49ers: 3
2001 Patriots: 3


To you, I'm certifiably insane, period. Brady was absolutely, positively, incontrovertably a sure-bet better QB than Drew. Not close at all.

But, I want to win. That's my priority. Unseld, Reed, Thurmond, Chamberlain and Mikan can all be made out to be better than Russell.


Guts - and awareness. But Eason was always Berry's blind spot. For Raymond: Not Grogan, Flutie, Montana, Unitas, Staubach nor Brady was ever going to start ahead of Tony.

I never called you crazy or certifiably insane, and I happily admit to having been wrong about how we went so nuts about this Brady guy in 1 season. Thank Gawd it wasn't me making that call. I think you were lovin' on Grogan who, yeah, was the better "intangible leader" in retrospect. But he was the older guy with a known ceiling, and Eason was the "game manager..." ("or is he?")

In 86 Eason actually had the better year than 85... it made sense to think he was the future for a minute (and Denver stopped that NE team by a close-ish score, I remember). He was sacked a ton, both in that game and in that season. It was only 87 when it became clear that if he was going to be the future, it wasn't going to be quite yet (still)... which meant, by then, he was going to be mediocre enough that he should really just be a Jete and be done with. And I don't get your Flutie love at all. I liked him as the CFL GOAT and all, and I liked thinking "wouldn't it be cool if he really succeeded in the NFL," but he really never did.

But I don't think you're batcrap crazy, I only think that you need to be kept out of uniform and logo decisions.

Hell, I'm wagering that we both remember we drafted the second best Chris Canty to play in the NFL, we both remember drafting the second best Kenyatta in his draft class, and we're discussing the second- and third-best number 11s on the Patriots' all-time roster.

That's gotta count for something.

 

[Pats1971]

2001 was not a lights-out season, APF. And "undefined winningness" is not a slam, it's just everybody knew "Brady wins"... but we didn't know much more. WHY and HOW was Brady correlated to winning, if not by yards or touchdowns? Maybe that he threw "only" 12 interceptions? What, did he make Antowain Smith get the absolute BEST 4 ypc he could get?

Give me a sane argument, ignoring 2002-on, that Tom Brady was going to be the future of the NFL. You can't do it. We just know that he gave John Madden goosebumps.

That was a great season, but for Brady it wasn't some kind of lights-out, 4-TDs-per-game-on-the-regular performance. His stats were low, his wins were not blowouts or anything, and he was anything but a sure-bet better QB than Drew, even after that SB.

The opposite of your follow-up thought is the case; Brady was the Eason analogue here - he won enough to get us further than we'd gotten before. Eason got awarded the Kingdom for making it to the SB, and he had the follow-up seasons that Brady COULD have had, given what we knew of Brady at the end of the 01 season.... except that Brady turned out to be something else again.

Fans were already sold, and when it was time to pull the trigger, BB was sold, no problem whatsoever. I'm just pointing out that TFB wasn't then what he is now. He was a 2800-yard, 18 TD, 12 interception QB who got better as the stage got bigger. But that was IT, at that moment. It took guts to make that call.

Well first of all, that was before QB's were throwing 4 td's every game. Second, It was Brady's first year as a starter with basically mediocre weapons. Fact is we were a losing team and when brady played we were not. Fantasy football has ruined sports fans. To indicate where people were at with TD's back then, Brady lead the league with 28 in 2002. 28 now is average. Also Brady only played in 14 games that year. The goal is to win, not make your fantasy team better. Here was bledsoe's td's prior to Brady. 15, 25, 13 27, 28, 20, 19, 17, 2. This is what Qb's did back then.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

He was lucky to get out when he did.

Theoretically, if Kiam had any common sense, then Flutie would be here as the starter without Berry to muzzle him, and the stadium would be close to if not totally filled. The Patriots had a good defense, and several offensive veterans including Irving Fryar.

Flutie is different. It is subjective and admittedly biased, but I would take Flutie over Elway, Young, Kelly or any of the others, just as I always liked Tom over any other quarterback in the league. Since 2001. Marino and Moon were great weapons; but winning games obviously takes more than simple ability and production.

There is no way to quantify or reconcile how Flutie set rushing and passing records for seasons and career that will never be broken - certainly not by one single person - and won 6 MVP's and 3 titles in the CFL, and would not have won anything with the Patriots. Parcells could have inherited a playoff team with a starter in place.

FOOTBALL; Jets Prepare to Counter Flutie's Creative Tactics (Published 1998)

New York Jets prepare for coming game against Buffalo Bills; Coach Bill Parcells comments on threat team faces in Doug Flutie, Bills' quarterback (M)

www.nytimes.com

Flutie Is Still No. 1 With Patriots' Fans (Published 1989)

www.nytimes.com

Flutie was unbeaten at Foxborough and the Meadowlands almost forever.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Well first of all, that was before QB's were throwing 4 td's every game. Second, It was Brady's first year as a starter with basically mediocre weapons. Fact is we were a losing team and when brady played we were not. Fantasy football has ruined sports fans. To indicate where people were at with TD's back then, Brady lead the league with 28 in 2002. 28 now is average. Also Brady only played in 14 games that year. The goal is to win, not make your fantasy team better. Here was bledsoe's td's prior to Brady. 15, 25, 13 27, 28, 20, 19, 17, 2. This is what Qb's did back then.

I'm aware. He wasn't lighting it up prior to the Great Aerialization that was supposed to make Peyton Manning the QB his story-line said he was, either. I don't know who "your fantasy team" is about, but stats are stats. I know 28 led the league, I also know 18 didn't, and 18 with 12 int. just ain't nothin to write home about even if it's 2001.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

PS:
The league in 2001, passing -

2001 NFL Passing | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 2001 NFL Passing Stats and more on Pro-football-reference.com

www.pro-football-reference.com

Brady became a great passing QB, and by and large he did it after the first dynasty. He was always totally dialed in, totally on-point, always able to pull off the game winning drive. But you made the nonsense argument that (1) OTHER PEOPLE, not you, are hung up on "fantasy football", and (2) Brady was good by fantasy football (i.e., statistical) standards. He wasn't. He was, however, very good at winning football games, particularly in months ending in "y."

 

[Tony2046]

That was a good day.

With Tuna and then Drew, after 4 years of darkness there was finally hope. Hope is a good thing, the best of things.

Ok Red.

 

[stephens44]

Fans in general were sold, but there was a small pro-Drew minority still around.

I think it was like 1998 where the nickname 'The Statue' started getting tossed around though, it seemed we could sense what was coming.

I wonder if Brady got the mildly derogatory 'game manager' tag because he was so good at knowing what the defense was doing and throwing the ball away when it was clear the play was breaking down. Fans were just not used to that style of play back then.

Unfortunately for Drew he never learned that style, he was the coach's son and raised to be a hero, he was gonna go for everything he could get even when it might have made sense to get out of the play early:

I always felt like Bledsoe's mentality was I have to find a way to win this game because that's my role here. The "kid" version of Brady followed the design of the play like a robot, went through his reads and threw it away if it wasn't there. It was like, tick tock- 1,2,3...its out. Drew would pat the ball until he either forced it in there or got hit, never a throw away without imminent collision. I felt like that was the key difference between the two and that Brady trusted the coaches, where as Drew trusted his arm.

 

[stephens44]

PS:
The league in 2001, passing -

2001 NFL Passing | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 2001 NFL Passing Stats and more on Pro-football-reference.com

www.pro-football-reference.com

Brady became a great passing QB, and by and large he did it after the first dynasty. He was always totally dialed in, totally on-point, always able to pull off the game winning drive. But you made the nonsense argument that (1) OTHER PEOPLE, not you, are hung up on "fantasy football", and (2) Brady was good by fantasy football (i.e., statistical) standards. He wasn't. He was, however, very good at winning football games, particularly in months ending in "y."

Exactly... His 2002 season and Bledsoe's are almost identical statistically. At that point I still wondered if we'd kept the right guy.
As far as all the Eason, Grogan, Flutie talk.... Grogan was a leader, Eason was an accurate passer (see 84 and 86 season stats) and Flutie was a winner. In Bledsoe we got all three, in Brady we got an upgrade to Bledsoe. Now, I'm not sure where we are or where we're going. Just remember the Millen dollar man in your expectations for 2021 and everything will be great! lol