A Moment in Patriots History When Tom Brady Was To Grow Up To Be ... the Cowboys' Jason Garrett
It was 20 years ago, and the New England Patriots starting quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, thought he saw a little something in a young QB buried on the team's practice squad.
“Here’s the real truth of it,'' Bledsoe tells E:60 here. "When he was on practice squad his rookie year I actually called my financial advisor about him. I was like, ‘Hey, I really like this kid. He’s never going to be a starter. He’s going to be Jason Garrett or one of those guys that’s just going to be around forever and you’ll really like the kid.'"
The "kid'' who was projected to have a career in the style of Garrett, whose time in the NFL spanned 14 years, most notably with the Dallas Cowboys, but only for a lifetime total of nine starts?
That would be Tom Brady.
“We really did (like him),” Bledsoe said of his family's affection for Brady circa 2000. "We kinda brought him in. He was over to our house, we had him over for dinner probably at least every other week. But just really liked him. Really liked the kid. And still do.''
"The kid'' did a bit better than Garrett as a player. He replaced Bledsoe and became a legend. Bledsoe - who quarterbacked in Dallas after leaving the Patriots - was right about Brady's Garrett-like longevity, though. Garrett, of course, was Dallas' head coach for a decade and is now the offensive coordinator with the Giants.
Brady? He's 42, has just finished working a 20th season, and while his future in New England is up for debate, he plans to keep on building on a career featuring six-time Super Bowl championships, four Super Bowl MVPs and three NFL MVPs.
Even if Bledsoe didn't believe in Brady all those years ago, Garrett this year, before the Pats topped his Cowboys, talked of what "that kid'' became.
“You can make an argument,'' Garrett said of Brady, "that he’s the best player that ever walked.''
