Tom Brady (1 Viewer)

[walkmac]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bSzyfctieM

The above is a collection of Tom Brady highlights from Michigan.

Here is a guy that is big, athletic (he was drafted by the Montral Expo's in the 10th round of the 1996 MLB draft as a catcher) and played against big time competition. If you look at the highlights I think you can see that he can make all the throws - he had a strong arm, a nice touch, and good accuracy (note the TD passes against Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl). Why did he fall to the 6th round?

 

[BLOX]

I don't know for sure, but I think I read somewhere that teams were leary due to the fact that he didn't have much starting experience. Not sure how much he started, but I'm assuming it was a year or less.

 

[cstu]

Not only was it not considered a good QB class (1999 was supposed to be on par with the 1983 class), I don't think a lot of teams thought they needed a QB that year. Carmazzi, Redman, and Martin all had very productive college careers and were over-rated because of it. Bulger was supposed to go much higher, I remember some had him as the #2 QB in the class. Not sure about Wynn's college career, but he probably had more experience than Brady was considered a safer pick.

2000 1 1 18 18 Chad Pennington Jets Marshall

2 3 3 65 Giovanni Carmazzi 49ers Hofstra

3 3 13 75 Chris Redman Ravens Louisville

4 5 34 163 Tee Martin Steelers Tennessee

5 6 2 168 Marc Bulger Saints West Virginia

6 6 17 183 Spergon Wynn Browns Southwest Texas State

7 6 33 199 Tom Brady Patriots Michigan

 

[cstu]

Here's an article about the 2000 QB class:

http://archive.profootballweekly.com/conte...s_qb_020200.asp

Michigan’s Tom Brady really came on as a senior and threw the ball extremely well. He capped his career in grand fashion with his best game, completing 34-of-46 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns against a very good Alabama team. Brady is tall, smart, dedicated, coachable and a good decision-maker. On the negative side, at 6-foot-4½ and 193 pounds, he is as thin as a rail, lacks football strength and, despite his toughness, goes down too easily because of the way he is built. He is not a gifted athlete and will not impress anyone with his scrambling ability.

 

[Billy1x]

Here's an article about the 2000 QB class:

http://archive.profootballweekly.com/conte...s_qb_020200.asp

Michigan’s Tom Brady really came on as a senior and threw the ball extremely well. He capped his career in grand fashion with his best game, completing 34-of-46 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns against a very good Alabama team. Brady is tall, smart, dedicated, coachable and a good decision-maker. On the negative side, at 6-foot-4½ and 193 pounds, he is as thin as a rail, lacks football strength and, despite his toughness, goes down too easily because of the way he is built. He is not a gifted athlete and will not impress anyone with his scrambling ability.

Hm... 193 pounds - Makes you wonder about his involvement with that growth hormone group. Why was he in contact with them again???

 

[Workhorse]

Here's an article about the 2000 QB class:

http://archive.profootballweekly.com/conte...s_qb_020200.asp

Michigan’s Tom Brady really came on as a senior and threw the ball extremely well. He capped his career in grand fashion with his best game, completing 34-of-46 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns against a very good Alabama team. Brady is tall, smart, dedicated, coachable and a good decision-maker. On the negative side, at 6-foot-4½ and 193 pounds, he is as thin as a rail, lacks football strength and, despite his toughness, goes down too easily because of the way he is built. He is not a gifted athlete and will not impress anyone with his scrambling ability.

Hm... 193 pounds - Makes you wonder about his involvement with that growth hormone group. Why was he in contact with them again???

Nice try http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2552932

Brady, who attended the same Bay Area high school as Bonds, said he was back home one offseason and got the names of a few trainers who could help him work out. He reached Anderson, who was out of town at the time.

"I think he was at spring training," Brady said after the Patriots' last practice before Saturday night's exhibition game against the Arizona Cardinals. "It was before anyone knew Greg Anderson or who he was."

 

[Team Legacy]

This was an interesting look back. The Jets go Pennington while the Pats win the lottery with Brady... what could have been...

 

[redman]

Matt Cassel lasted until pick #230. He, like Brady was a backup to guys who - at least in college - were considered more talented (they were) in Palmer and Leinart.

Don't forget that KC Joyner article that showed the success/failure tipping point for NFL QB's coming out of college tends to be their 35th college start. If they have that many, they succeed far more often than if they don't. Guys like Brady or Cassel suffer as a result.

 

[Jiggyonthehut]

Matt Cassel lasted until pick #230. He, like Brady was a backup to guys who - at least in college - were considered more talented (they were) in Palmer and Leinart. Don't forget that KC Joyner article that showed the success/failure tipping point for NFL QB's coming out of college tends to be their 35th college start. If they have that many, they succeed far more often than if they don't. Guys like Brady or Cassel suffer as a result.

Fascinating. Redman, do you still happen to have a link to that article? I'd really like to hear more about this.

 

[rabidfireweasel]

He was viewed as a less successful Ken Dorsey. Smart, too skinny and frail. Not enough arm. He was in no way ready to play his first year. If you were going to draft him, you were going to have to carry 4 QB's. Few teams ever want to do that. NE's mandate was that gain close to 20 pounds and work on his core strength.

So basically, he got to work out for a year and study the playbook like a madman with no pressure. People thought at this time that Bishop was the QB of the future and Friesz was the capable back-up behind Bledsoe. When Bledsoe got hurt, it was clearly an ideal situation - in terms of lack of competition. NE played it conservatively on offense, and Brady responded by going about 4 games without an INT. Then he got lit up against Denver for 4 INT's. The way he bounced back the next week against ATL locked up the longterm job for him IMO.

 

[5Rings]

Henson's parents whined and threatened to transfer when Brady won the job early in the year....so the Lloyd had to rotate them to appease the blue chip 2 sport recruit. I don't recall one game that year where Brady was not easily the best QB for MIchigan...but the rotation continued.

The scouts said "too skinny, not strong enough arm" if I recall correctly. Seems to me they said that about Brady's idol 20 years earlier, too.

 

[AB in DC]

He was still skinny his rookie year with the Pats. The strength coaches must have gotten to him, because apparently he looked like a different person by the time training camp started the following year.

 

[redman]

Matt Cassel lasted until pick #230. He, like Brady was a backup to guys who - at least in college - were considered more talented (they were) in Palmer and Leinart. Don't forget that KC Joyner article that showed the success/failure tipping point for NFL QB's coming out of college tends to be their 35th college start. If they have that many, they succeed far more often than if they don't. Guys like Brady or Cassel suffer as a result.

Fascinating. Redman, do you still happen to have a link to that article? I'd really like to hear more about this.

I can't seem to find the article but it came out in the last 18 months. I'll keep looking when I have more time. It was a good article.

 

[Workhorse]

He was still skinny his rookie year with the Pats. The strength coaches must have gotten to him, because apparently he looked like a different person by the time training camp started the following year.

There were stories in the press about Brady winning "practice player of the week" a TON of times during that first season and pre-season the following year. The coaches couldn't keep him out of the weight room and he was known for being the first guy to show up and the last guy to leave, even when he was way back on the depth chart. Kid worked like a maniac for his shot, just like he did at Michigan.

 

[Family Matters]

Why should the scouts think he's good enough to be an NFL QB if he's not even considered the best QB on his college team? I say that becasue Carr clearly felt he wasn't good enough to take the job away from Henson. Of course we all know how that's worked out.

As for his weight, I would be concerned too about a guy less than 200 lbs being an NFL QB. Obviously he's grown into his body and that's helped a great deal.

Also, sometimes guys mature later than others. In Brady's case, he always had the mentality to be the man but the physical aspects left many to doubt. Between his weight and not being the starter on his own team what scouts wouldn't have doubts?

 

[massraider]

Drafting is an inexact science, and it's tough to measure the stuff that makes a player great, intengibles, leadership, etc.

Brady also was drafted with no expectations, by a quality organization. That's a nice situation. I wonder sometimes about these young QB's that failed, and wonder if things may have been different in a better situation.

 

[Slider]

Let's not forget he was drafted by a team with good coaches, a good scheme and a great D. He's a perfect fit there but not so sure he's all that everywhere.

 

[NEUPJ]

And to think the Pats almost took Tim Rattay instead.

That and the Pats were so smart, they not only let him sit on the board until the 6th round, they didn't even waste their 6th round pick on him, they used their supplemental pick at the end of the round.

I'm as big as a Pats fan as anyone but I"m sure Belichick and Pioli would be the first to admit they fell into this one.

 

[The Ref]

And to think the Pats almost took Tim Rattay instead. That and the Pats were so smart, they not only let him sit on the board until the 6th round, they didn't even waste their 6th round pick on him, they used their supplemental pick at the end of the round.I'm as big as a Pats fan as anyone but I"m sure Belichick and Pioli would be the first to admit they fell into this one.

To this day Scott Pioli has a picture of Antwan Harris on his desk to remind himself he isn't nearly as smart as everyone thinks he is, or so I had read a year or so ago.

 

[Morton Muffley]

And to think the Pats almost took Tim Rattay instead. That and the Pats were so smart, they not only let him sit on the board until the 6th round, they didn't even waste their 6th round pick on him, they used their supplemental pick at the end of the round.I'm as big as a Pats fan as anyone but I"m sure Belichick and Pioli would be the first to admit they fell into this one.

To this day Scott Pioli has a picture of Antwan Harris on his desk to remind himself he isn't nearly as smart as everyone thinks he is, or so I had read a year or so ago.

I read that the picture he has on his desk is TE Dave Stachelski (their 5th round pick that year who I don't believe ever made the team). I've also heard Pioli say respond to comments about the Pat's drafting genius with quips like "If we were so smart we wouldn't have passed on Tom Brady 6 times before finally drafting him." I suppose one can debate the sincerity of these stories, but I tend to believe that Pioli and Belichick have a good mix of confidence and humbleness.

 

[Phlash]

Read Patriots Reign. Tom Brady was such a lucky pick its crazy. I still say that no matter what team he ended up on, he would've started, for his work ethic (he was first to the gym, last to leave, first to practice, last to leave) is undeniable and would've landed him a starting job eventually.

 

[TD Ryan]

Read Patriots Reign. Tom Brady was such a lucky pick its crazy.

the one thing you have to give NE credit for is holding on to 4 QBs (as rabidfireweasel mentioned above).

Most fans in NE thought that Michael Bishop was the "future" at QB for NE yet the NE coaching staff kept Brady on because they saw something in him... his smarts, his work ethic. Yup, they got lucky drafting him when they did, but at least they realized early on that he had potential.

And Brady's story is so well known now that most NE fans are hoping the Pats did it again with Cassell (drafting a QB who sat behind heisman winners).