The moment Tom Brady became Tom Brady

[mosslost]

Anyone with a substantial understanding of the game and who was watching in 2001 saw the lights come on when Brady replaced Bledsoe.

simply not true. Brady was quite average, the team performed well. Defence won games for them, 9-6 in Buffalo (or something like that) with fluky things like a knocked out player having contact with the ball and a foot out of bounds, eliminating a fumble recover, crazy stuff.

And no it is not me with the revisionist view.

 

[mosslost]

But to think that the guy who drove it down the field in the snow against the Raiders...twice...and who then drove it down the field to win the Championship against the Rams was mediocre...tells me all I need to know about your judgement.

I clearly gave him credit for the playoff drives, and his run into the end zone in the snow was clutch and a foreshadow..

However, at 5-5, when Belichick made the decision (which was my original point) Brady was not stellar eye opener, and you are revisionist if you say so.

Brady averaged 200 yards per game passing (including a 364 yard game skewing those numbers, not a dead ball era thing either lol, get the 70s mixed up?)

18 TDs 12 INTs. (and 2 TD and 5 INT in the final 5 game win streak)

 

[PATS16N0]

One of the fun things about Brady was that he won three Superbowls so early, and then ripped off 50 highlight TD passes for 16 - 0.

He was chasing GOAT status so early into his career. He was the smart, clutch, fiery, leaderly, cold weather, big-moment, miracle-man quarterback, taken in the 6th round.

Then the helmet catch, the ACL, the Ravens, the near-misses, the Rob Parker’s, the Giants again, You Mad Bro? No longer top 5, no longer elite, in decline, benched in KC, on to Cincinnati. All epic battle-scars between (hopefully) two entirely seperate Patriots Dynasties.

In hindsight, the years chasing that once elusive 4th were the most exciting. It was all tension. It was so expected so early on, and then it became this epic struggle.

I’m honestly nothing of any kind of celebrity-worshipper or anything, but Tom Brady is a £#€king legend.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

When he came out of the womb and his mom declared: Lets name him, Tom fricken Brady!

When Tom fricken Brady was born, he spanked the doctor.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

One of the fun things about Brady was that he won three Superbowls so early, and then ripped off 50 highlight TD passes for 16 - 0.

He was chasing GOAT status so early into his career. He was the smart, clutch, fiery, leaderly, cold weather, big-moment, miracle-man quarterback, taken in the 6th round.

Then the helmet catch, the ACL, the Ravens, the near-misses, the Rob Parker’s, the Giants again, You Mad Bro? No longer top 5, no longer elite, in decline, benched in KC, on to Cincinnati. All epic battle-scars between (hopefully) two entirely seperate Patriots Dynasties.

In hindsight, the years chasing that once elusive 4th were the most exciting. It was all tension. It was so expected so early on, and then it became this epic struggle.

I’m honestly nothing of any kind of celebrity-worshipper or anything, but Tom Brady is a £#€king legend.

I've been thinking about the last 2 SBs vs. the first 3 and the bad 2... Not to mention many other games since...

This might be a NE fricken Patriots thing, or a Tom fricken Brady thing, but it feels different since losing those 2.

It's hard to claim you're "wandering in the wilderness" when you've been to 7 straight AFCCGs... but the last 2 have shown SO much scrapping-for-every-second (even if the first 3 were close games too). Throw in that last game, if you want, even though it's not a SB.

Half of it might be Brady remaining calm and trusting it can happen, even while showing urgency... the other half is that this is so much HIS team this time through, playing with a living legend, not the "Phenom" (kid phenom that is). It's almost like they can't imagine truly being out of a game with TFB at the helm.

That's really cool.

 

[wizwor]

He was also 9-for-9 on the gotta-have-it drive that made it 13-10

and coughed up the ball. no one -- including TB12 -- thought the game was not over after Oakland came up with the ball.

 

[PatsWSB47]

and coughed up the ball. no one -- including TB12 -- thought the game was not over after Oakland came up with the ball.

No, by rule he successfully tucked it before it came out.......even if he(we) didn't know he did. Belichick claimed he knew it though because the Jets got that call when they played the Pats earlier in the year.

 

[wizwor]

No, by rule he successfully tucked it before it came out.......even if he(we) didn't know he did. Belichick claimed he knew it though because the Jets got that call when they played the Pats earlier in the year.

We know the rule. Read my words. Watch the video. Everyone thought the game was over at that point. The Tuck Rule gave Tom Brady a second chance and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

[sarge]

simply not true. Brady was quite average, the team performed well. Defence won games for them, 9-6 in Buffalo (or something like that) with fluky things like a knocked out player having contact with the ball and a foot out of bounds, eliminating a fumble recover, crazy stuff.

And no it is not me with the revisionist view.

The problem is you look at stats in a vacuum and don't even realize what the main thing is that makes Tom Brady great, and the fact that it has NOTHING to do with stats.

Tom Brady's most important quality is his ability to operate with complete control and the utmost confidence under the most extreme game pressure situations where the overwhelming majority of people can not!

In fact, Brady actually plays better during those times. Later on in his career Brady started bringing in the stats, because he worked hard at refining his accuracy, understanding the game, and generally just trying to get better.

But at the end of the day what makes Brady the special QB that he is, has nothing to do with how many garbage time stats he can pile up with a lead.

It's that fact that when the moment gets big, so does he.

I have seen some Atlanta fans try saying Matt Ryan played better in the Superbowl then Tom Brady, and I guess if you are going to use just the stats from the game I guess you would agree. But Skip Bayless put it best (I know I am butchering this quote) "When it came crunch time, Matt Ryan turned back into Matt Ryan, and Tom Brady turned back into Tom Brady".

Tom Brady didn't have the epic stats in Superbowl 36, but with barely over a minute and no time outs, from his own 17 yard line in the biggest game of his life, he put together his best drive of the game and helped bring this team it's first Lombardi.

And it was a sign of things to come.

And that to me is why I say that was the moment Tom Brady, to me, became Tom F'n Brady!

 

[raduray]

When Madden said the Pats should play for the tie and I yelled NO! and Belichick and Brady listened.

 

[sarge]

When Madden said the Pats should play for the tie and I yelled NO! and Belichick and Brady listened.

It was also fun listening to him admit he was wrong when they lined up to kick the game winning field goal.

"What Tom Brady just did gives me goose bumps!"

 

[rochrist]

For me it was either his game-winning drive in the 2001 SB or when he did the photoshoot where he's holding goats.

Goats, man. Goats.

 

[rochrist]

he threw a fair amount of pics that year. (18 TDs 12 INT, in 14 games, and not many attempts compared to many years.. he had an absolutely awful game with 4 picks too.. yeah I know first year starting. I am just stating that many people nowadays talk about it like it was not a big deal not giving Bledsoe his job back. I would say it was 50/50 in this market, which seemed surprisingly high to not give it back to Bledsoe).

And at 5-5 at the time, no one had any idea whether this was a one year thing, or that the team was going to the playoffs let alone win the Super Bowl.

12 ints was a good year for Bledsoe. Also, don't make the mistake of comparing the stats post 2005 with back then. When Brady start 28TDs, 12INTS got you to the pro bowl. Now its pretty much 'meh, ok'.

 

[rochrist]

I'm gonna get flamed. But it is a fact that Tom Brady was basically mediocre to slightly above average his first year starting. The team won those games with maybe SD the first glimpse of the Brady we know.

Our offense was anemic in the playoffs. If Brady had not led the last field goal drive it would have been mostly average year. Basically proved he should start somewhere.

Winning that Super Bowl changed all that for him.

In the final 5 regular season wins, Brady threw 2 TDs and 5 INTs. And he threw One TD in the entire post season. (same as Bledsoe, and the entire offense managed three TDs)

Belichick himself said it was a miracle that team won the Super Bowl.

Does not change that Brady is now the GOAT. It is just everyone around here saying they knew instantly Brady was special are just being silly.

@Off The Grid

You remain an idiot.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

"What Tom Brady just did gives me goose bumps!"

Doing that once is goose bumps, one special drive, one special super bowl run... that scrappy kid from Michigan beating the mighty Rams...

Looking back it's almost quaint... that would be the ceiling of what many QBs could do, just once, with the spotlight on them. How many of those moments - and far greater moments, and drives, and comebacks - have we been treated to?

If you're a Jete fan, the sort-of equivalent of that one season (though he didn't do anything in SBIII to match that drive) would have to last you a lifetime.

Since that night it's been year-in and year-out, punctuated with dramatic SBs... mainly wins, often with bigger moments. In fact, they seem to get bigger every year.

My God, we're spoiled!

 

[mosslost]

Tom Brady didn't have the epic stats in Superbowl 36

Tom mostly had no stats in 2001.. The team was good enough to go 14-3 (post 0-2)

In order to truly follow this thread you have to go back to the original point of it all. Brady was not great in his first season. He did not lose games (except his 4 INT game probably did not help in that one) and he game managed. FACT

 

[mosslost]

12 ints was a good year for Bledsoe. Also, don't make the mistake of comparing the stats post 2005 with back then. When Brady start 28TDs, 12INTS got you to the pro bowl. Now its pretty much 'meh, ok'.

I never said Bledsoe was better. Brady had 12 pics in 14 games. Bledsoe would throw like 28 td 15 int in his good years. In his bad years he threw 20 + but it was a different era. I have always thought Brady was better than Bledsoe. My only point is it revisionist history to make the argument that it was not bitterly debated by smart football people, when at 5-5 Brady and the public were told Bledsoe would not be getting the job back. Then the subsequent 6 Game win streak Brady had 7TD and 5 INT (4 TD in his one excellent game against SD). The last 5 games you could say were won in spite of him when you see his 2 TD and 5 INT and his average of less than 200 Yards per game passing.

 

[mosslost]

You remain an idiot.

You simply don't know what you are talking about as usual. Dumb as a bag of rocks.

 

[mosslost]

You remain an idiot.

Everything I said in that was true 100% and you can't refute it. Are you stupid? from Philly? What is wrong with you beyond just your screen name?

 

[sarge]

Tom mostly had no stats in 2001.. The team was good enough to go 14-3 (post 0-2)

In order to truly follow this thread you have to go back to the original point of it all. Brady was not great in his first season. He did not lose games (except his 4 INT game probably did not help in that one) and he game managed. FACT

Miss the point much?

The point was that when this team needed the most clutch drive in franchise history, Brady delivered.

As far as game managing and stats, it’s irrelevant. It’s what he did on that one drive. Because it was a glimpse at what he would do time and time again over his career.

Of course that day we didn’t know that it was anything more then a flash in the pan. But looking back (meaning knowing what we know now) that drive was a defining moment for Brady.