Bill Belichick Recalls Decision To Stick With Tom Brady Over Drew Bledsoe

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had to make a really tough decision 18 years ago. Drew Bledsoe was injured in Week 2 of the Patriots’ 2001 season. Tom Brady took over under center, and led the team to a 5-2 record in the next seven weeks. Bledsoe could return in Week 10. Belichick made a different decision. He decided to go with a 24-year-old Brady with seven starts.

Belichick talked about this in the series finale of “NFL 100 All-Time Team.”

“Well, Tom was special his rookie year even though he didn’t play,” Belichick said on NFL Network. “His leadership with the other rookies in the class — we had a big rookie class. Tom took them every day after practice and would run them up and down the field in their offensive plays. He was clearly a leader on the field, had a very good training camp in 2001. Kind of the crossroads was in the middle of the 2001 season when we played the Rams. That was the week Drew had come back, so I split the reps between Tom and Drew that week and the Rams beat us in that regular-season game on Sunday night. I didn’t think that was Tom’s best game, but in retrospect, I looked at it and thought it would be hard for anybody to play well only getting half the reps.

“So the following week against New Orleans, I said, ‘We’re just going with Tom and he’s going to get all the reps and he’s going to play.’ He played very well in that game and I think that’s one of the real trademarks of Tom’s career. There have been a couple games along the way where he hasn’t been his best, but the next game he’s always come back and had an outstanding game. That was a real turning point, I would say, in that season and ultimately the evolution of Tom’s great career.”

Belichick made the right decision, and Brady helped the team win six Super Bowls. Hopefully, Brady will stay on the team for quite some time. When will he retire?