NFL - NEWS & NOTES

If Jack Lambert had his front teeth

 

Bledsoe and his newly signed 10 yr extension is the face of the franchise! Brady rides the bench. Does Bledsoe lead them to any SB appearances? How long is Brady on the Bench for before he is traded, cut or released as a 6th rd pick ? That hit on Bledsoe knocking him out was huge on many levels for years to come.

To me besides Belichick being a genius, he lost coordinators Romeo Crennell and Charlie Weis and all the haters, who pinned a lot of success on both coordinators, came out of the woods saying the Pats wouldn't win without them. Now they didn't win after Weis left until the Pats beat Atlanta in the SB, but they had a ton of success without both coordinators. I don't think Matt Patricia was anything special, but he sure got credit for a lot. To me it's all Belichick. He learned from Parcels and modified what he learned to be the greatest coach in sports. Give me the least amount to work with and he would find a way to win! Look at Brady. Bledsoe gets hurt and he throws a 6th rd pick to the starting spot. Brady somehow leads the team to the SB! Brady got hurt the next year i believe and he had to go back to Bledsoe to win a playoff game in Pittsburgh and thanks to the defense, they barely won and Bledsoe was marginal at best. Two weeks later, Bill goes back to Brady and another SB Title. Masterful job of maneuvering around rough patches to success.

 

that's your opinion axe. to me the hit on bledsoe and the call for brady to now play qb for the pats and his success that year and the following 2 yrs with 2 SB victories is one of the luckiest strokes of fortune in the history of sports. if not for the injury, bledsoe is the face of the franchise as he signed a 10 yr deal. does he win those early SBs? who knows. im sure peyton manning would've loved facing bledsoe than brady in the AFC TItle games. that hit alone changed history right there. Does Brady ride the bench and stay with NE while Bledsoe is QB? He probably bolts after riding pine for a few years. Would Matt Cassell win a SB as a starter? Does Jimmy Garoppolo ? All question marks if Bledsoe is never hurt. To me due to the Pats insanely successful run with Brady is more than a "what if?" That hit and move to Brady changed their franchise success for the better, not the worse. Due to that success, it outweighs other players and their what ifs. I mean, who can win 6 SBs besides Brady and this example? not many people.

 

you still lose to New Orleans. haha.

 

Catfish, Bledsloe took over for Brady in the first AFCCG they played in under Belichik. It was against the Steelers and followed the tuck rule game against the Raiders.

 

ah ok thanks Gid.

 

he still couldn't eat apples. lol

 

We would have played the Rams. And crushed them.

 

This article is from; PFT...



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I posted this because I struggle with drug and alcohol addiction also. Been in and out of D/A rehab and detox centers more times than you have fingers and toes. Im clean and sober now, but it hasn't been for long. Its tough, but can be accomplished. I was inspired by Namath and just thought Id post this in hope that it might inspire someone else.

 

just seeing if you were paying attention ! hhahahahaha.

 

people call it "rock bottom." For Namath his rock bottom was shown on national tv for all to see, so he couldn't hide from it. he couldn't bury it in his mind like it didn't happen. it did happen and it was on tv as proof it happened. he did the right thing but quitting after that night. he's been doing great ever since. i admire him for that.

i have an issue with the last sentence of the article from PFT..."that sobriety can be achieved and sustained." Yes, Namath has done that, but he quit before and relapsed, so he lost the battle before. it's a daily struggle and the battle is never over. it's not a race, it's a marathon for life. Namath lost before, but he's winning now. Take that as the victory, but keep yourself grounded.

Golf analyst David Ferehty was sober 12 yrs and relapsed last year over the death drug overdose of his oldest child, who was only 28. Sober 12 yrs and in a blink of an eye - poof it's gone. You never know when you could crumble and fall. Preparing yourself for those dark days and days of temptation is as important as sobriety itself.

 

"all things are possible..."

 

Will, always know many of us on here support you in your journey and only wish you the best of luck and success.

 

Of course it's my opinion, Cat - but if we're playing YOUR game, we can apply it to a multitude of players and situations. That's a FACT.

Look, I don't mind playing the "what if" game, but when it's used to start to insinuate a team somehow "got lucky" (which it seems you're doing here with New England), it comes across as sour grapes. A certain amount of "luck" factors into almost every facet of the game, from the draft to plays on the field.

 

i knew this was coming. not sour grapes at all when you look at all the layers i stated yesterday. and if you look at the post above it, i praised Belichick as a genius and the greatest coach in the history of the NFL and one of the greatest ever in sports history Brady or no Brady. Now if I was Drew Blesoe, i may be a little salty here. Me..? Nah. Just pointing this out.

apply "what if" to any sports situation and most of the time it's one or two layers deep.. the flyball that dies on the warning track in a World Series game. the wrong call in the 1985 WS that screwed over St. Louis. A hit goalpost in hockey in OT in the Stanley Cup Finals. A bust draft pick. A dropped pass. A winning horse that gets DQ'd on a ticky tack ruling, etc. i get all of it Axe. THousands upon thousands of "what ifs" in sports and life itself. Hell my Dad was a Medic in WWII. If he died in WWII, me and my 7 siblings aren't even born!! That's crazy to think of it like that. But the layers of the hit on Bledsoe has so many ramifications to himself, Brady, Belichick, the Patriots franchise and the NFL as a whole, it's hard for me to ignore that versus other what if examples.

Now like i posted, it wasn't just the what if on the Bledsoe hit. Brady played in a staggering 9 SBs. Would Bledsoe if he remained starting QB? Very doubtful as no one has played in that many SBs as a QB and franchise. If Bledsoe didn't get hurt, would he have continued success to make it to the HOF one day and be dominant like Brady? Don't know now as he was replaced by Brady due to the injury. Does Bledsoe beat the Colts all those times Brady did? No one knows now, etc, etc. You get my gist. All of it leads back to one moment though. The hit. If Bledsoe didn't get hurt - his career is different. So is Brady's, Belichick's and the Patriots as a franchise. Lord knows Drew Bledsoe wasn't setting the NFL on fire even when he was a starting QB. Hell, he even played in Dallas, so you know first hand he wasn't that great compared to Aikman or Romo.

That's all I'm trying to say. Pure luck, good fortune, whatever you wanna call it. the fortunes and lives of those 3 people, a franchise and their sports fans were forever changed by that hit and what transpired after it - all in their favor. crazy when you think about it ? if Brady was a top draft pick, then no, im wrong and my whole idea is flushed down the drain. he was a 6th round pick. almost an afterthought until he was thrown to the wolves of the NFL and became the starting QB. what transpired after that and all his and the Pats success is pretty freaking lucky Axe. Again no team has played in 9 SBs. Brady and Belichick did just that. Would Bledsoe ?

 

You're assuming Bledsoe would have played the entire 2001 season if he hadn't been injured. He was 8-8 in 1999, 5-11 in 2000, and 0-2 to start 2001. I don't think it's much of a stretch to think Bill Belichick would have turned to Brady sooner rather than later. Didn't his mentor (Bill Parcells) do EXACTLY that with Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo?

 

then why did the Pats give him a 10 yr extension in 2001 ?

and Bledsoe was QB in Dallas until 2006. 5 yrs after being replaced by Brady. He was 4-5 yrs older and 34 then. A little different scenario.

Here's the best thing I found to sum up what I'm saying:

Now he did play again NE when Brady got hurt in the playoffs, but that says it all?

 

Good info - I didn't realize it was immediately after signing that deal.

 

Looks like Brady only got to play because of the injury. Warner only got to play because of Green’s injury. Sometimes building a championship caliber team involves a lot of luck.