With Bill Belichick’s obvious decision to start Tom Brady this Sunday against Team Stacked, you have to wonder whether Drew Bledsoe will ever throw another pass as a New England Patriot.
Unless Brady gets injured, or really flubs it up and gets yanked from the game, Drew’s heroics last week against Pittsburgh may have been his last for the Pats.
Since Week 2, after Mo Lewis shelved Drew with severe internal injuries, his return to the field was always in doubt. But even after he regained his health, he still lost his job. With Brady leading a winning team, nobody thought Drew would play again this season (except for The Sports Guy. Gotta love The Sports Guy).
After the Pats came from behind with a thrilling victory over the Jets in Week 12, an already growing feeling was solidified: Tom Brady is Belichick’s guy. He drafted him, he was patient with him, he made him backup quarterback this season and he finally got a chance to showcase him. Then Brady stepped up and made Belichick look like a genius — on offense that is, (He’s not so bad on defense, either). Then Belichick hugged him, a rare show of emotion for a man not known as “Mr. Enthusiasm.”
I love the Pats, and their success this season has been quite surprising and great to watch. But, on some level, it’s also been tough for me to watch. I’ve always been a die-hard Drew Bledsoe fan. His replica jersey still hangs in my room. He’s given us our fair share of memories over the years.
Remember when he led the Pats to the Super Bowl in 1996? Remember when he engineered two last minute comeback wins in consecutive weeks with a broken finger over Miami and Buffalo in 1998? Remember when he threw for 426 yards and led the Pats to storm back from a 20-0 halftime deficit to win 26-20 in OT against the Vikings? Remember when he stole the ball from Isaiah and fed DJ to beat the Pistons in 1987 Eastern Conference Finals?
He set all kinds of passing records as a rookie quarterback. But more importantly, he’s always done anything it takes to try to make the Pats winners.
It wouldn’t have been right if Drew left New England as an injured backup QB. He’s meant too much to this team since being drafted in 1993. He’s had many critics saying he’s overrated, immobile and makes too many bad decisions. But Drew has been a warrior. He throws blocks. He leaps over linebackers for first downs. He runs hard when he needs to, even if he has set all-time lows in yards-per-second while running for his life from very angry defensive linemen.
When the Pats win the Super Bowl on Sunday (and a silence or heavy laughter fills the room…), Drew’s play last weekend will have meant so much more. For weeks it looked like he wouldn’t play again this season, and when the Pats earned a bye, the Super Bowl wasn’t out of the question. For him to have no hand in any of the Patriots’ success this season would have been an atrocity.
Yeah, he helped a young Brady win under pressure. Yeah, he coached and cheered for him all year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Drew has kept his mouth shut and been a class act, and winning the Super Bowl is what everyone plays for. But for Drew, if he watched on the sidelines as Brady led them to victory without him having any real part in any of it, he’d have his ring. But it wouldn’t be the same. He would always be the backup quarterback who got dragged along for the ride.
But last Sunday against Pittsburgh, Drew got what he deserved. One shot. One shot at having a hand in the Patriots’ Super Bowl run. The grin Drew gave after the Pats beat the Jags in 1996 to make it to the Big Game was nothing compared to the one he gave last Sunday as tears streamed down his face.
So this Sunday, when the game is over and the Rams go home and cry, the Patriots will all be celebrating. But for Drew Bledsoe, the Patriots’ franchise quarterback, the taste will be a little sweeter. It will be sweeter because he can finally say he was part of it. He can say that if not for his performance in Pittsburgh, the Pats would be sitting home like we’ll be watching the game and listening to Madden make no sense.
After Sunday, if Drew moves on to another city, he’ll always be able to say he led the Patriots to the Super Bowl.
And for the 11 of you who care, here’s my prediction: the Pats win 24-21. Now please God, make it happen.
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