When did Tom Brady make his NFL debut?
Ah, the year 2000. Less than a year after surviving Y2k, NFL fans tuned in for the first football game of the year. It was brady" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tom Brady's New England Patriots taking on the San Francisco 49ers. Usually, players who play in this game rarely amount to anything in the NFL. However, Tom Brady got his first in-game action in the Hall of Fame Game.
21 years later, the famed quarterback has played in almost half of the Super Bowls since then. He's played in 301 games and thrown for 581 touchdowns and 191 interceptions. He's won seven Super Bowls, including one without his Jedi master Bill Belichick. Brady is one of only two quarterbacks to ever win a Super Bowl with a different team.
The Hall of Fame game was the only "big" game he played in during his rookie season. Besides that game, he only saw action in one regular-season game, in which he attempted three passes and only completed one for six yards.
Drew Bledsoe: Tom Brady's mentor
Tom Brady's quarterback mentor was Drew Bledsoe. By 2000, Bledsoe had been in the league for seven full seasons and entered his eighth. He was a quarterback who seemed to have a disappointing season for each good one. For example, in 1993, Bledsoe was 5-7. In 1994, he was 10-6. Basically, by 2000 Bledsoe had five seasons in which he led a losing team.
With Bledsoe, the Patriots were stuck in quarterback purgatory. They had a quarterback that could get them close to winning the Super Bowl (they nearly did in 1996), but they could not get over the hump. That was when they selected Tom Brady in the sixth round. It was a low-risk pick who was likely chosen to light a fire under Bledsoe.
After Bledsoe's exit after two games in 2001, Tom Brady had the rest of the season to prove he was the guy the Patriots needed. If he failed to prove his worth, he would be easily cast aside for a top prospect in 2002. This became a non-issue as Brady went on to go 11-3 while throwing 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The team eventually went on to win the Super Bowl and the rest is history.
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