Historic draft recalled
Brady selected 24 years ago
Tuesday marks the 24th anniversary of the Patriots’ decision to draft Tom Brady, a seismic move that not only changed the face of the franchise but heralded the arrival of what many consider the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
On that Sunday afternoon, however, the move was as inauspicious as they come, with Brady taken in the sixth round, with the 199th overall pick. When things wrapped up, new Patriots coach Bill Belichick offered a 109-word summary of the quarterback, roughly the same as for every other prospect that was drafted by New England on Day 2.
“The value board at that point really just clearly put him as the top value,” Belichick reasoned. “Brady is a guy who has obviously played at a high level of competition in front of a lot of people. He’s been in a lot of pressure situations. We felt that this year, his decision-making was improved from his junior year after he took over for [Brian] Griese and cut his interceptions down.
“A good, tough, competitive, smart quarterback that is a good value, and how he does and what he’ll be able to do . . . We’ll just put him out there with everybody else and let him compete and see what happens.”
What happened was that Brady would go on to win six Super Bowls with the Patriots and another with Tampa Bay.
But one thing stood out in Belichick’s introduction of Brady: his use of the word “value.” A term that would become a favored Belichickism, he said it three times when describing the quarterback.
Asked about the “value” of Brady later in the press conference, Belichick explained.
“At that particular time, Tom was rated by all the people who had seen him above any rating that anybody else had,” he said.
“The value was his performance — what he has done the last two years, how much he’s improved his senior year, the level of competition he was at, what he was able to do with that team, to move the team and handle the two-minute drill. Those were all positives that just outweighed some of the things that other guys had done.”
On a conference call with New England media later that day, Brady said, “I was looking for a place to get my foot in the door, and try to be great for the team that picked me. And, you know, Drew Bledsoe is certainly one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and it’s going to be great to learn under him and compete for a job with the Patriots.
“The team that has drafted me, I’m just very comfortable with. And whether it be in the second round or the sixth round, I think everyone starts on the same, the same level. And it’s just a great opportunity to head back to New England and play for the Patriots. It’s certainly been a dream come true.”
The choice of Brady put the capper on a four-month stretch that would set the stage for the start of the Patriots dynasty. It started with the hiring of Belichick as head coach and de facto general manager in January 2000, and the addition of personnel chief Scott Pioli shortly after that. Less than two years after Brady’s draft day, the Patriots were Super Bowl champions.