Ex-Steelers GM reflects on major regret regarding Tom Brady
Tom Brady is back in the conversation after the quarterback took the league by storm this week with his viral roast on Netflix. Once again, fans, pundits and analysts are doing revisionist history in wondering what could have been. Added to the list is former Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert.
Speaking on the "Not Just Football with Cam Heyward" podcast, Colbert lamented how he took part in letting the quarterback slip into the sixth round.
Kevin Colbert: "There's always guys you're going to look at and say, ‘Wow, in the whole universe, we missed on Tom Brady.' That's a living, breathing, walking legend. Going in the sixth round, that's unusual, that doesn't happen too often."
He continued, recalling that it was his first year with the Steelers:
"Then we ended up chasing him. We had our own successes, but obviously, Tom Brady had a lot of successes. The Patriots did great putting together successful seasons, and that's the challenge of the endeavor. If you ask me for one, I'll always go with that because that was my first year here."
Put simply, life comes at you fast. One moment, someone else was choosing the Steelers players of the future, the next moment, it was Colbert, with the biggest player in NFL history hidden in the list of names presented to him.
Of course, he wasn't the only general manager to miss out on the quarterback multiple times. All 32 teams, including Bill Belichick's New England Patriots, skipped the quarterback multiple times throughout the NFL Draft.
Which great did Kevin Colbert get if not Tom Brady?
While he didn't get Tom Brady, Kevin Colbert can at least hang his hat on the fact that he found Ben Roethlisberger. Brady was selected in the 2000 NFL Draft while Roethlisberger was chosen in the 2004 NFL Draft.
To most NFL fans, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback lived in Brady's shadow, winning just two times in 12 total matchups. In two of those 12 matchups, the Patriots sent Colbert and Roethlisberger's Steelers home in the playoffs, per Stathead.
That said, Colbert saw plenty of success with Ben Roethlisberger, winning two Super Bowls in a four-season span and reaching a third just a few years later. Roethlisberger never finished a season under .500 in his career. While Mike Tomlin is often credited for that, Colbert selected the non-Tom Brady quarterback who played a key role in nabbing the accolades of the era.
If any of the above quotes are used, credit "Not Just Football with Cam Heyward" and H/T Sportskeeda.