Bledsoe: Taking backseat to Brady after injury required "soul searching"
5:33 PM Mon, Jul 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe was a guest on Phoenix sports radio station KTAR last week, and spoke for one of the first times about his feelings on losing his job to Tom Brady after the devastating 2001 hit from the Jets' Mo Lewis that landed him in the hospital for several days. Asked about becoming a spectator after a decade as a college star and NFL standout, Bledsoe said, "That was a pretty interesting time in my life as I'm sure you can imagine. You know, when you come in to the league and you're a young guy and you're kind of installed as the figure head of an organization and you carry that mantle for 9 years - or 8 years and change - and have some success and put your blood, sweat and tears in to it. And then when you finally get hurt and are bleeding out there on the field and you have to go to the hospital for four or five days, and when you come back, all of that is forgotten and you're cast by the wayside, it's a bit of an eye opener. "You know, I think that when you're young and you come in and have some success, you think you're bulletproof to an extent. But you find out fairly quickly that football is a replacement business and that no matter what it is that you've done, you're as good as your last play. And then to have all of that going on where I couldn't get my job back and this other kid was in there playing, begrudgingly now I can say he was playing awfully well and has gone on to play very well. "But you know, there was some soul searching going on just to figure out how I was going to handle that whole thing. But you know, I swallowed my pride and showed up for work and got ready to play every week." Bledsoe goes on to talk about the excitement he felt getting to play in the AFC Championship game in 2001 after Brady suffered a knee injury, and also discussed one of the other memorable hits of his career (aside from Lewis' tackle). 
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I really liked Drew Bledsoe,but then smart pants brady showed up,poor drew out door,now i think Brady needs to retire an dlet new guy take over,with Brady having a lot of injuries an dgetting married to model,he seems like he don't need football anymore,we might of won that last championship if he would of let other guy play,instead of him with ankle injury,hard playing in pain,were all replaceable,at som epoint in our lives,so tom retire now,don't ruin another chance at championship if it comes around.
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Carol you are an idiot. A waste of brain cells.
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nfl jerseys
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I liked Bledsoe when he played for us. He did alot for our organization and kept us on the map for a number of years. Back when, when Bledsoe was hurt and Brady came in to play, I (along with MANY others) was concerned about Bledsoes injury and the fate of our season. Luckily for us, Brady was prepared to step in.
Back when Brady first took over, his pocket presence was barely adequate, his ability to move around was less than Bledsoe and his throwing.. well, lets just say I could throw a longer ball.
Here we are years later.. he has one of the keenest pocket presence in the league (if not the best), he has (or had) excellent movement in the pocket and he has definately worked to strengthen his arm and "now" has a long ball arm.
My point is, with time, practice, patience and opportunity.. anything can happen. My best wishes and best of luck to Bledsoe, he has earned it for what he did for us.
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Window licker..
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I always will wonder how many more championships the Patriots could have won had they stuck with Bledsoe.
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Like most Pats fans, I was, and still am a huge Bledsoe fan. However, I think Drew has missed a valuable life lesson. Brady worked harder than he did and became a better QB as a result, which is the real reason he was replaced, not the injury. How easily we forget that during the 2001 pre-season, the Pats moved Brady from 4th to 2nd on the depth chart ahead of seasoned veteran backup Damon Huard. This was the product of a tireless work ethic combined with an undying quest to compete and win, something not all players have. Bledose became a little complacent. He had just signed a huge contract and was raising 4 children. At the time, Brady had nothing going on in his life other than football. There are those in the media who believe Brady would have eventually supplanted Bledsoe, probably in late 2001 or at the beginning of 2002, even if Beldsoe had not been hurt.
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Yeah, shame on Bledsoe for having a family and children with his wife!
In all seriousness though, there is no way Brady was ever going to replace Bledsoe if not for the injury. It's a fluke what happened, and obviously Brady has had a great career, but he did nothing in that 2001 season to justify maintaining the starting job. NE was playing as a TEAM for once and not solely relying on Bledsoe to win games for them. Defense carried the '01 Patriots, not Tom Brady.
You've still got to feel for Bledsoe though. He then turned around the Bills franchise and they went on a huge tear at the end of '04. Then they decide to GO WITH J.P. LOSMAN?!?!?!?!
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are you people serious?, bledsoe was great, but do you want to know how many championships we wouldve one, 0. he always held the ball that extra half second.to say brady was a fluke is just wrong, the was meant to play qb, and i strongly believe that he wouldve been discovered by now, you people are just in love with bledsoe cause hes been here so long. if i wasnt so iratated by your comments i'd be laughing at them
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Been a Bledsoe fan since he was drafted. I am just glad he recovered from his serious injuries and has went on to prosper in business, and raise his children.
Still wish he could play a few more years, know he has the talent.
In my opinion Drew should be inducted into the football HOF.
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Can't anyone spell anymore? Jeez
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