Enter 2001.
The Patriots were coming off of a last place finish in the AFC East. Bill Belichick was in his second year as the team’s head coach. And Drew Bledsoe had just signed a ten-year contract extension with the team earlier that offseason. Bledsoe had been the team’s starting quarterback since entering the league in 1993. Prior to 2001, he had passed for seven straight seasons of 3,000 yards or more and he was a 3 time Pro Bowl selection. While the Patriots were not fairing too well, Bledsoe was THE man in New England, past, present, and future.
Fast forward to the Week 2 showdown against the rival New York Jets. During the fourth quarter, Bledsoe was flushed out of the pocket and was hit by linebacker Mo Lewis as he slid toward the sideline. Bledsoe left the game with blood in his lungs and was hospitalized. I remember watching the game, and the speculation was that Bledsoe was not badly hurt. The initial thought was that he was shaken up, but was removed from the game as a precaution.
After Bledsoe, the Patriots had to other quarterbacks on their roster– Damon Huard and Tom Brady. The season before, Huard burst onto the NFL scene in his replacement duty of Dan Marino in Miami. He went 4-1 as a starter with just under 1,300 in Marino’s absence. Brady was a second year man with little-to-no playing time. The two had edged out the speedy and fan-favorite Michael Bishop for the reserve quarterback roles.
As history tells us, Brady enters the game, goes 11-3 as a starter, makes the Pro Bowl, beats the defending champion Rams in the Super Bowl, wins the Super Bowl MVP, and plays in the Pro Bowl. That’s just 2001.
Tom Brady has developed into one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history (arguably). For the rest of his life, he will constantly be compared to the like of Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, and Peyton Manning. Brady, and the Patriots success, has lent a hand in the development of the spread offense in the NFL. He has transcended football– he’s been featured in GQ, hosted Saturday Night Live, and became a Hollywood power couple with his marriage to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
All of this, because of an injury to an established superstar, and the decision of a head coach to play one guy over the other.
What if Belichick went with Huard?
It’s safe to say the Patriots 2001 season would have ended differently. Huard has since fizzled out to be nothing more than an average back up quarterback.
Bledsoe would have, assumably, taken the reins back in 2002. He had just signed a 10 year contract and would just be entering the last year of that deal this upcoming NFL season. Bledsoe is now 38 years old and has since retired from professional football. It is obvious that the Patriots’ brass thought that he was the best they could do.
Brady may have never gotten a chance. As a 6th round draft pick, he was obviously considered a work in progress. The subsequent Patriots’ drafts would have been shaped considerably differently. Since Brady has blossomed into one of the best quarterbacks the league has ever seen, the Patriots were able to use their picks in other places. It is safe to assume that, had Brady never gotten his chance, the Patriots would have used a high draft pick to select a successor to Bledsoe. Could we have seen someone like Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco, or Matt Leinart in a Patriots uniform?
I can almost guarantee we would have never seen Randy Moss in New England. The same is said for Roosevelt Colvin and Junior Seau.
The fates of the coaches have been affected equally as much as the fates of the players. Belichick has been heralded as a genius, a master of strategy, one of the best the game has seen. Charlie Weis (then offensive coordinator) had a short lived career as the head coach of Notre Dame, and the same can be said for former defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. Scott Pioli (GM) is crafting a team in Kansas City, and Josh McDaniels (QB coach) is now the head coach in Denver.
What if Belichick went with Huard? Tom Brady may have never gotten his chance. Instead, he took the it and ran with it.
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JimmyD is TSBN's official blogger of the New England Patriots! A life long resident of Patriots' Nations, he has stuck with the team through thick and thin. In typical Boston-fashion, he's not afraid to say exactly what's on his mind and lay it all on the line.
A recent college graduate, JimmyD is looking to break into the publishing world. 
If they had went with Huard, I really think that the Patriots would still be considered the sad sacks of the AFC. No Brady means we’d have Bledsoe for a few years, no Randy Moss for sure, and definitely no Lombardi trophies. The only good side would have been less bandwagon jumpers that the Patriots fanbase seems to be infested with lately.
By the way some nice reporting here. Great to find a place that doesn’t give the ESPN spin that most Patriots reporters seem too nowdays. Hope more is forthcoming.
Daniel,
You’re actually very right. There would be no “Tuck Rule” had Brady not played in that game. I’m surprised I forgot about that one.
Doubt any raider fan will ever forget that one. Have a friend of mine that still curses that game.
I know exactly how he feels.
Good writeup here. It’s amazing just how much would have changed if Huard would have gotten the nod. For one I really doubt we would have any Super Bowls. In fact we probably would have only now gotten back to the respectability that we had in the late 90′s. Until the Brady year it was just that way; be good for a bit, suck for a while.
And no f’in snow bowl!