Tom Brady’s path from a 199th overall pick to the most decorated quarterback in NFL history (Getty Images)
Then Bledsoe went down with a chest injury in Week 2 of the 2001 season, and everything changed. Tom Brady was a backup in his second NFL season, stuck behind Drew Bledsoe with no real path to the starting spot. Brady took over, led New England to a Super Bowl , and the rest is well-documented history. But what almost nobody talks about is how close that career came to ending before it even started, back when Brady was still a raw kid trying to survive training camp cuts.
Tom Brady came into the league in 2000 as the 199th overall pick of the NFL Draft, a sixth-round selection so far down the board that most teams had already gone home mentally. He made the final 53-man roster, but he did it as the No. 4 quarterback with nothing guaranteed beyond a practice squad-level role. When Bledsoe got hurt against the Jets in September 2001, Brady was handed the keys with one game of meaningful NFL experience. 1 overall pick, and had a massive contract. Brady finished that regular season with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, solid numbers for a first-year starter, and then delivered one of the great Super Bowl performances in a 20-17 win over the heavily favored Rams.
Because brady was winning games, managing situations, and the team was buying into him, but Belichick stood firm. Because of a preseason roster decision in the summer of 2000, all of it nearly never happened. The Patriots had four quarterbacks on the roster heading into that preseason. Brady was last in line, barely getting reps, and the team had zero reason to keep him if he didn’t prove something fast. That first season he threw just four passes. He was essentially a clipboard holder. Most players in that position never get another shot. Belichick had a decision to make when Bledsoe recovered. He chose Brady. That call was not as obvious as it seems now. Bledsoe was the franchise quarterback, a former No. Ownership was not thrilled. Seven Super Bowl titles, five Super Bowl MVP awards, and every major passing record in NFL history followed.