Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

rhickok1109 wrote:

JohnH19 wrote:

7DnBrnc53 wrote:j
I am not too sure how Holmes would have fit in NE's 3-4, but imagine if the Pats had Rod Smith (and still had Curtis Martin) in 2001. Heck, maybe Bledsoe doesn't get hurt, opening the door for a certain someone.

That certain someone would have beaten Bledsoe out of the job before long regardless. At some point you're going to have to face the fact that TB is one of the half dozen best QBs ever to play.

Belichick and Rehbein were grooming Brady to take over as the starter in 2002.

Rehbein passed away in the summer of 2001. I don't think that Belichick was ever grooming him to take over. They just signed Drew to a 10-year deal in early 2001. Also, according to Charlie Weis, Brady wasn't considered better than Bledsoe at the time:

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/01/22/tom-br ... ion-routes

Heck, even Adam Vinatieri said that Brady never would have seen the field if Bledsoe didn't get hurt. He may have been traded to SF for Tim Rattay (a QB Belichick liked in 2000) by 2003 or something.

7DnBrnc53 wrote:....He may have been traded to SF for Tim Rattay (a QB Belichick liked in 2000) by 2003 or something.

Where, no doubt, he would have sat behind Jeff Garcia, never to fulfill his destiny...

Detroit - Bobby Layne. Bobby played well for about 5 years after being traded to Pittsburgh in 1958, but did not have the supporting cast that he had in Detroit. Layne was traded after a 13 to 13 tie with the Green Bay Packers in their 2nd game in 1958.

Detroit Head Coach George Wilson apparently felt that Layne was expendable after the way Tobin Rote played at the end of the 1957 season.

I think that there was a curse or something after that.

JuggernautJ wrote:

7DnBrnc53 wrote:....He may have been traded to SF for Tim Rattay (a QB Belichick liked in 2000) by 2003 or something.

Where, no doubt, he would have sat behind Jeff Garcia, never to fulfill his destiny...

Garcia went to Cleveland in 2004. By that time, Dennis Erickson was in his second season as HC, and Brady is the starter, most likely. However, if they don't do too well, and Erickson gets fired, Nolan and McCarthy are on the horizon, and they may want their own QB (Smith or Rodgers).

I've read that Belichick was not a fan of Bledsoe's stubbornness, and the veteran was not a good fit for Belichick's office. I've always been baffled that BB could go 10-5 with Matt Cassel and 5-13 with Bledsoe (although that 2008 team had a lot more talent.) At the time of Brady's first start, Bledsoe had been a mediocre QB over the previous 26 games, winning only 7 of those games.
But if BB had benched Drew after Week 2 in 2001 for poor play, I doubt Brady could have kept Bledsoe on the bench with his play in the first 8 games. He failed to reach 100 yards passing against Miami, and threw four interceptions in the 4th quarter against Denver. He also wasn't TOM BRADY yet.

Brady has had a fantastic career, but who knows if he ever would have gotten a real chance of Bledsoe hadn't been injured.

Wasn't it Belichick who let Bernie Kosar go?

"BB" has done a fair job of evaluating talent and maximizing potential in his current run as a head coach.
I'm hazarding a guess he might have figured out which QB gave him the best chance to win.

I had several conversations with Rehbein (who was from Green Bay and who was introduced to me by Mike Gage, a high school classmate of mine and the publisher of the Green Bay Press-Gazette) and this is what he told me.
The idea that Belichick liked Rattay is mistaken. When the Patriots were preparing for the 2000 draft, Belichick was still putting his own scouts and scouting system in place, so he was forced to rely to a great extent on scouting reports from the Bobby Grier regime. One of those scouts was very high on Rattay. Rehbein had already scouted Brady and he was sent by Belichick to Louisiana Tech to look at his game films. When he returned, Rehbein reported that Brady was much better (in fact, he compared Brady to Montana, not only to Belichick but to people outside the organization).
Already in 2001, before Rehbein's death, Belichick had decided that Brady would probably take over as the starter in 2002 and Rehbein, who had originally been hired to try to speed up Bledsoe's delivery and to improve his decision-making, had begun putting in extra time with Brady. He and Belichick had also got Brady to beef up; he was about 25 pounds heavier in 2001 than he had been in his rookie year.
"They" didn't sign Bledsoe to a 10-year deal; that was all Kraft's doing. Bledsoe was practically an adopted son to Kraft and this was one of the very few times, all very early in Belichick's New England career, that Kraft went over Belichick's head (behind his back might be more accurate). After Bledsoe's retirement, Kraft became an informal business advisor to Bledsoe as he started his wine business and reportedly they still remain close.
A couple of interesting things about Brady's first couple of years with the Patriots. In 2000, veteran John Friesz was nominally Bledsoe's backup, but Michael Bishop was generally considered New England's QB of the future. Brady was actually their fourth-string QB. But how many teams have ever carried four quarterbacks? They kept Brady as their 4th QB in 2000 and cut both Friesz and Bishop in 2001. Obviously, he had become the new QB of the future and had vaulted over two other guys to become Bledsoe's backup. And keep in mind that, at the time Bledsoe got hurt, the Patriots had lost 13 of their last 18 games with him at QB. Belichick was not happy with the way he had been playing and he was already planning to make the move after giving Brady another season on the bench.

Ralph, that post belongs in the PFRA forum HoF. Absolutely great stuff.

JuggernautJ wrote:Wasn't it Belichick who let Bernie Kosar go?

"BB" has done a fair job of evaluating talent and maximizing potential in his current run as a head coach.
I'm hazarding a guess he might have figured out which QB gave him the best chance to win.

When Belichick let Kosar go, his preferred QB was Vinny Testaverde--who happened to be injured. That left him with Todd Philcox leading a 5-3 team that was tied for first with Pittsburgh. The Browns went into a 2-6 tailspin that saw them finish five games out of first.

conace21 wrote:Brady has had a fantastic career, but who knows if he ever would have gotten a real chance of Bledsoe hadn't been injured.

Bledsoe wasn't really good after 1997 or 1998 or so. He was mediocre. I believe Brady would have taken over the starting role later on in 2001 or in 2002 if Bledsoe didn't get injured in the second game of 2001. Of all the horrible stuff I have to hear and deal with as a Jets fan, the idea that Mo Lewis started the Patriots dynasty is the dumbest, most annoying, and most nonsensical.