History could have turned out very differently had the Patriots made a slightly different decision back in 2001.
That was, of course, how Tom Brady took over the role of Patriots quarterback. It happened after Drew Bledsoe was put in the hospital after a hit by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis. When it became clear that Bledsoe couldn’t play, Brady was far from an automatic choice to replace him, according to the team’s offensive coordinator at the time, Charlie Weis.
“[Brady] wasn’t better than Bledsoe,” Weis told Sports Illustrated’s Greg Bedard. “In fact he wasn’t much better than [Damon Huard]. Bledsoe was clearly the starter. The number 2 spot, that’s where the competition was. We really could have flipped a coin to pick the second guy. We ended up picking Tommy—but it was really close.”
Damon Huard, the other quarterback on New England’s roster at the time, was a 28-year-old backup. It’s exceedingly unlikely that if he won the backup job instead of Brady, the Patriots don’t win the Super Bowl, don’t become a dynasty, and who knows what becomes of Brady. He may have had to dust off this old resume and start sending it around.
