OT: Did the Pats Consider Trading Brady Instead of Bledsoe After SB 36?

[gobesmug]

Indeed, Mahomes is in the Manning/Elway category for me.

And none of them sniff my top ten all time. Top thirty maybe, which isn't bad.

Quick stat: NONE of them ever won a title that wasn't qualified in some way (officiating debacle, cheating, etc.)

That quick stat is subjective and best left not to bring up.

Brady's first Superbowl came after the tuck rule, then spygate and Deframegate.

Anyone can make such claims against anyone that's ever won anything, legitimate or not, it's just a bad argument all around.

 

[gobesmug]

I had to go back and research this as I was very young at the time. I'm assuming Bledsoe was as good as gone once Brady was named the starter in the SB. But was there any discussion at all about trading Brady while his value was high? Thus, Bledsoe would remain the starter in 02 and beyond?

For the fan base, was there any animosity at the Pats for: A) Trading Bledsoe and B) Doing it in division? Or, was it pretty unanimous that Brady was the guy moving forward?

Looking back it seems like a silly discussion to even have. But at the time things might've been different.

Also, the fact they traded him in the division tells me they ultimately didn't fear playing Bledsoe twice a year. Crazy to think about.

None with Bledsoe but there were idiots that wanted to trade Brady after Matt Cassell went 11-5.

The argument was Brady was already 31 and probably done in 3-4 years where Cassell could be great for 10 years.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Brady's first Super Bowl came after the tuck rule[a correctly called, legal play][better named the 'F*ck Yule], then CryGate[some team staffers doing nothing illegal in the first half of the first game of a season in a location in Giants Stadium the league deemed 'unauthorized'] and DefameGate[just as soon as those random ball inflation testing results are released by the NFL from 2015, we will all be able to safely dismiss Einstein as the r*tard he was diagnosed as being in kindergarten, and we'll never have to check the air pressure in our car tires ever again].

FIFY

Reminder:

Chiefs received stolen gift from officials in Foxborough in 2019, including game, home field and Super Bowl

Patriots suffered from a pair of major officiating errors vs. Chiefs, and fans were angry

A rough sequence of botched calls for New England.

patriotswire.usatoday.com

Broncos violated salary cap in 1997 and 1998 - that is, they actually cheated, for which Tagliabue slapped them on the wrist and nobody's ever heard about it

Colts in '06 -phantom face mask penalty, etc./Broncos in 2015: "Thank you, Bill Belichick!!"

 

[gobesmug]

FIFY

Reminder:

Chiefs received stolen gift from officials in Foxborough in 2019, including game, home field and Super Bowl

Patriots suffered from a pair of major officiating errors vs. Chiefs, and fans were angry

A rough sequence of botched calls for New England.

patriotswire.usatoday.com

Broncos violated salary cap in 1997 and 1998 - that is, they actually cheated, for which Tagliabue slapped them on the wrist and nobody's ever heard about it

Colts in '06 -phantom face mask penalty, etc./Broncos in 2015: "Thank you, Bill Belichick!!"

Yes those things happen but those kinds of things always happen. Every team has to be prepared to win against the opponents and the refs

 

[Tony2046]

You should get to know him better. You'll still want to tell him that, but in a more lighthearted way.

I'm more interested in the site filters right now: "****scomb is a fleshy growth or crest on the top of the head of a male fowl. ****scomb may also refer to: Rhinanthus minor, a species of flowering plant."

****ywillows.

 

[venecol]

This is a fv*ked up thread.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

I've said it before but I have to say it again...tuckeverlasting is one of the treasures we have here at Patsfans...understated hilarity is such a lost art these days...thank you my friend

back atchya my friend.

 

[1960Pats]

I think the Pats organization and the fanbase were all in on Brady at that point. How could they not be? Thankful to Drew, but most people were on the Brady train.

However, I do recall, for a very short period time in 2002 when Brady was struggling and Drew was lighting it up for the Bills, lots of my classmates in high school turning on Brady and acting like they were the biggest Bledsoe fans ever. It was weird and lasted for like 3 weeks.

There actually was something I remember as the Brady-Bledsoe War. I had Pats fans, co-workers, fellow AOLers and friends who wanted Drew to get the job back and some of them still try to say that he could have also won in 2001. I call them Bledsholes.

 

[1960Pats]

We obviously never considered trading Brady, but I do remember fans of other teams lol’ing like wow they actually think this guy is any good after being carried by the defense to a sb. And they insisted we were dumb for keeping him over drew

I remember it well.

There was also an Indiot who showed up on AOL in 2002 who figured that the Pats and Brady were done and he could go back to his Manning ball-washing. Boy was he wrong. After the Pats came back at Manning in 03 and 04 he couldn't leave for fear of being ridiculed, so he stuck around and took a beating.

 

[1960Pats]

Passing was not a bad decision. The play they ran was. Passing in heavy traffic is very risky.

Play-action, corner pass to a TE or something like that would have been a better call.

Carroll was going to run on 3rd down if is passing play failed. He kept his TO for that very reason and that's why passing on 2nd (or 3rd) down made sense. He did it on 2nd down, because if he ran on 2nd down and failed, he would have had to stop the clock and running on 3rd down would have become VERY risky. So, in my mind, passing on 2nd down was smart.

This is one of the places where Bill's preparation and calmness come to light. When everyone around him was in a panic his response was "we've got this." He said that because he knew he had a defense in that could stop the run and if the clock forced a pass, which it did, he knew what the pass might be.

Edit: And he worked on the play in practice.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

There actually was something I remember as the Brady-Bledsoe War. I had Pats fans, co-workers, fellow AOLers and friends who wanted Drew to get the job back and some of them still try to say that he could have also won in 2001. I call them Bledsholes.

Who Said So?

Really, the appropriate derision of Drew is not based upon his personality, although his obvious pouting in 2001 destroyed whatever was left in me that might have considered him exceptional, any more than for Eason; but is endlessly insatiable due to the media/Kraft/Kraftfan worship of the guy which has them saying flatly to this very day that he's the second best quarterback in team history.

He's slightly ahead of Tony; but does not make my top ten list of the best quarterbacks who were Patriots at some point in their careers.

 

[1960Pats]

The pass itself was bad is what I mean.

I think Seattle was caught off guard by the Patriots not calling a timeout.

As a side, how much heat does Belichick get if Seattle scores the game winning TD with 20 seconds left. With a timeout in his pocket?

That could've been disastrous for him.

If Ifs and buts were candy and nuts then every day would be Christmas.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I remember it well.

There was also an Indiot who showed up on AOL in 2002 who figured that the Pats and Brady were done and he could go back to his Manning ball-washing. Boy was he wrong. After the Pats came back at Manning in 03 and 04 he couldn't leave for fear of being ridiculed, so he stuck around and took a beating.

Alot of people took victory laps far too soon and boy did it backfire lol

 

[1960Pats]

Who Said So?

Really, the appropriate derision of Drew is not based upon his personality, although his obvious pouting in 2001 destroyed whatever was left in me that might have considered him exceptional, any more than for Eason; but is endlessly insatiable due to the media/Kraft/Kraftfan worship of the guy which has them saying flatly to this very day that he's the second best quarterback in team history.

He's slightly ahead of Tony; but does not make my top ten list of the best quarterbacks who were Patriots at some point in their careers.

I wasn't a big fan of Drew's either, but I think he got over the pouting. I recently watched some of the games from 2001 and he seemed okay.

 

[1960Pats]

Alot of people took victory laps far too soon and boy did it backfire lol

It's been a spectacular run that's been so unbelievable that some still don't believe it. lol

 

[TheRainMaker]

In the end, I believe Mahomes will be a top 5 QB of all time.

His true test will be when the talent on offense dries up and it will. Mahomes shows zero patience on offense and is always looking for the kill shot. The likely hood the Chiefs find another Hill and Kelce are slim to none. We'll see how good he is when the GM starts whiffing on draft picks which is already starting to happen.

Though I think he's going to get in Canton.

This isn't even a question. He's getting in.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

This thread is terrible. BB wouldn't have done all that in 2001 only to go back to Bledsoe. Totally nonsensical question.

 

[TheRainMaker]

This thread is terrible. BB wouldn't have done all that in 2001 only to go back to Bledsoe. Totally nonsensical question.

The poster clearly didn't watch Bledsoe in 2000 and 2001 before the injury. He clearly was uncomfortable in this offense.

 

[1960Pats]

The poster clearly didn't watch Bledsoe in 2000 and 2001 before the injury. He clearly was uncomfortable in this offense.

I was uncomfortable with him in that offense too.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

@MahomestoHill

I thought the Chiefs should have spent the off-season money on their defense. That unit is just not great…maybe not good. Mathieu makes a big difference, but even with him they’re a bend-don’t-break.

We looked at their advanced stats before last SB and noted the huge split between actual performance (play by play )and outcome (doing enough to win, points allowed.)

One can argue they’re designed to do this, and that some yards allowed are due to prevents, but unlike the Patriots with Brady, the team just lacks a lot of objectively good and great players, unlike those Pats defenses.

Meanwhile, on the offensive line, it surprised me they spent so much money on Thuney and Brown (well, Brown’s contract will be coming up.) I do think Mahomes would do fine with an average or even subpar line; what we saw in the SB was a perfect storm of Tampa’s personnel, tackles who weren’t even practice squad level, and reshuffling issues. So, I think that was literally an F-graded o-line, and Mahomes would do okay with a C-rated line. I don’t think elite players/contracts were necessary.

So I see all this money on the o-line as an overreaction, while the defense is going to have some big problems. They could
have brought in competent o-linemen much cheaper and then signed a handful of upgrades for defense, where they really need it. Do you agree with this take?