That was my favorite piece of the interview - the last question. Because I feel the same wayGreat read, thanks for the share. Whatever my frustrations were with his play at times, I never doubted his toughness or competitiveness. And always thought he seemed like a pretty good dude.
Definitely the Minnesota game in 1994...drove over from NY for the game with a bunch of Viking fans, where they came back and beat them in overtime and essentially began the run of good fortune for the franchise. Team was 3-6 at the time and went on to win out the season. Loved the guy, even though he ultimately had some issues as QB, but he gave the team legitimacy (along with Tuna of course ).Since it's Friday, since it's the offseason... what's your favorite Bledsoe / Bledsoe era memory?
I was there as well. Probably my fondest memory of the old dump. I remember it being pretty cold, and getting off beer and switching to hot chocolate at some point. And the crowd was absolutely electric when he threw that TD pass in OT, like I hadn't ever seen it, other than going to a late season game in '85. In retrospect, it seems like a watershed moment for the franchise. He and Parcells absolutely played a major role in the culture change, which along with obviously the Krafts purchase, in a lot of ways set them on the course to where they are now. They went from being a joke, and being gone, to having credibility and stability. I'll always have fondness for Drew and his role in that.My clearest memory isn't one when the team was good. It was Bledsoe's first year, season finale against Miami. I was there that day in the stands.
The Pats had Parcells and Bledsoe but they still started 1-11. There were some promising signs from Bledsoe but there were a lot of really terrible throws and decisions too, and for a while there was doubt if Bledsoe would actually be a franchise QB. He did a lot of boneheaded things his rookie year.
But then the Pats started playing better and somehow they won 3 in a row to get to 4-11. There were rumors that Orthwein had finalized a deal to move the team to St. Louis to be renamed the Stallions, and that the Pats were done. Kraft had not yet gotten involved in keeping the team.
Miami came in at 9-6 and needing a win to make the playoffs. But the Pats were playing well and the game went back and forth. Finally Bledsoe did this in OT (2:03 of the video):
View: https://youtu.be/6ZQa4G6FveA?t=123
The crowd went INSANE. Not only was it a big win but it also seemed like the very last game for the Pats in New England. Bledsoe gave an interview on the field after the game saying as much.
So we knew we had foundations, but thought they might move away just as they were getting promising. Kraft stepped in, and that was that.
I recall watching #1 down in Cape Cod. The Pats had been absolute laughing stocks for years, and beyond a few good games from Steve Grogan and a decent post-Super Bowl season from Tony Eason in 1986, the QB position had been a complete black hole since the early days of the franchise.So I have two.
1) The 1993 Patriots (Drew's first year, obviously) were kind of crap but rattled off 4 straight wins to end the season. It appeared, for the first time, that the team was going to be relevant again in 1994. Game 1, 1994 season: The Patriots go into Miami, who was a favorite to go to the AFC Championship Game that year with Denver, and Bledsoe goes toe-to-toe with Marino and ends up with 421 yards through the air and 4 TDs. Yes, Marino ended up with 50+ more yards. Yes, Marino had 5 TDs. Yes, Marino had 1 INT to Drew's 2. But still: that was a statement. Bledsoe was for real, and so were the Patriots, for the first time in a long fucking time.
2) Coming into the 2001 AFC title game with about 2 minutes left after Brady got banged up. Goes 4/4, 40 yards, a TD to Patten, in 35 seconds. Just pure nerve after riding the bench for 3 months. He didn't end up doing much the rest of the game (Pitt had a good defense), but gosh you couldn't help but feel awesome for the guy for that TD.
The touchdown pass he threw to David Patten in the 2002 AFCCG, it was a thing of beauty.Since it's Friday, since it's the offseason... what's your favorite Bledsoe / Bledsoe era memory?
Jefferson was not only out of bounds on 4th, he was two yards short! Pretty weak PI, too imo.Since it's Friday, since it's the offseason... what's your favorite Bledsoe / Bledsoe era memory?
First a few honorable mentions:
- The bomb to Terry Glenn in Super Bowl XXXI. That was awesome
- The first offensive play of the fog game against the Steelers - another bomb to Glenn through the fog. I loved Terry Glenn. RIP
But my favorite memory is, easily, November 23-29, 1998. After starting off strong (again) at 4-1, the Pats lost 4 out of 5 and were clinging to their playoff life, with home games against Miami and Buffalo coming up.
The Miami game was a back and forth, tight game. Miami scored with about 3:30 left to go up 4, 23-19. Bledsoe then led the Pats on a drive, converting 3rd and 11, 3rd and 10, 4th and 10, and 4th and 7, before finding Shawn Jefferson for 25 yards for the game winning TD with about 25 seconds left. Both 4th down conversions were also to Jefferson, one of which he was probably (clearly?) out of bounds, but there was no instant replay in 1998, thankfully. Jefferson had 6 catches for 131 and the TD in the game. Oh, and Bledsoe fractured a bone in his index finger following through on a pass and hitting a Miami DL's helmet during the drive. Epic, epic stuff. Oh yeah, this was also MNF, national TV.
So the following week they get Buffalo, also at Foxboro. It is a Sunday 4pm start, so it's basically a night game since it's in November. Bledsoe had to have a pin inserted in his finger during the week to keep it stable. We're talking about his index finger on his throwing hand. Can't imagine the pain he went through. They play a very similar, back and forth game. The Flutie-led Bills scored with about 6 minutes left to take a very similar 21-17 lead. After a Pats drive ends in a missed Vinatieri field goal (they didn't go for it because it was 4th and 19), the Pats D holds, and gets the ball back to Drew just after the 2 minute warning. Again, Drew leads the Pats on a drive. They convert a 3rd and 1 to Glenn, and later, a 4th and 9, again to Shawn Jefferson. Then with 6 seconds left and the ball on the Buffalo 26, Drew looks for Glenn in the end zone, and he gets clearly shoved in the back. The refs remarkably throw a flag - I say remarkably because when do you see PI called on basically a hail mary? So the Pats get one more untimed down, and Drew finds the immortal Ben Coates on a play fake for the game winner. Then the Bills left the field in protest and Vinatieri ran in the 2 point conversion with no defense on the field, and the Pats won 25-21.
Edit: the Jefferson out of bounds catch was actually the 4th and 9 play in the Bills game...
Phins game
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9RoNc5uubA&ab_channel=SW561
Bills game
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stmIv5e08A4&ab_channel=AllHighlights
As an '87 birthday, that Miami game is basically my earliest memory of being aware of a football game. I was more of a Bruins kid in the very early-going (channel 38!) but when Drew came along he was basically The Guy for me until Nomar, starting with that game.So I have two.
1) The 1993 Patriots (Drew's first year, obviously) were kind of crap but rattled off 4 straight wins to end the season. It appeared, for the first time, that the team was going to be relevant again in 1994. Game 1, 1994 season: The Patriots go into Miami, who was a favorite to go to the AFC Championship Game that year with Denver, and Bledsoe goes toe-to-toe with Marino and ends up with 421 yards through the air and 4 TDs. Yes, Marino ended up with 50+ more yards. Yes, Marino had 5 TDs. Yes, Marino had 1 INT to Drew's 2. But still: that was a statement. Bledsoe was for real, and so were the Patriots, for the first time in a long fucking time.
2) Coming into the 2001 AFC title game with about 2 minutes left after Brady got banged up. Goes 4/4, 40 yards, a TD to Patten, in 35 seconds. Just pure nerve after riding the bench for 3 months. He didn't end up doing much the rest of the game (Pitt had a good defense), but gosh you couldn't help but feel awesome for the guy for that TD.
It felt like the first time in forever they were actually going to be relevant for more than just a surprise year or two. I will always remember having MNF on the week before the game, and Al Michaels was killing time during a blowout breaking down the AFC playoff picture. He ended the conversation by saying, "...And Miami has to finish the season on the road against New England, who suddenly nobody is laughing at anymore."My clearest memory isn't one when the team was good. It was Bledsoe's first year, season finale against Miami. I was there that day in the stands.
The Pats had Parcells and Bledsoe but they still started 1-11. There were some promising signs from Bledsoe but there were a lot of really terrible throws and decisions too, and for a while there was doubt if Bledsoe would actually be a franchise QB. He did a lot of boneheaded things his rookie year.
But then the Pats started playing better and somehow they won 3 in a row to get to 4-11. There were rumors that Orthwein had finalized a deal to move the team to St. Louis to be renamed the Stallions, and that the Pats were done. Kraft had not yet gotten involved in keeping the team.
Miami came in at 9-6 and needing a win to make the playoffs. But the Pats were playing well and the game went back and forth. Finally Bledsoe did this in OT (2:03 of the video):
View: https://youtu.be/6ZQa4G6FveA?t=123
The crowd went INSANE. Not only was it a big win but it also seemed like the very last game for the Pats in New England. Bledsoe gave an interview on the field after the game saying as much.
So we knew we had foundations, but thought they might move away just as they were getting promising. Kraft stepped in, and that was that.
My dad took me to my first Patriots game, Week 10, 1993. I was 12. Sitting in those metal bleachers in the cold was something else. Bledsoe had been hurt and wasn't starting (until right now, when I looked it up, I remembered it as he wasn't starting since it was his rookie year, but he started from game 1). Scott Secules started the game, and the crowd wasn't happy. Late in the second half, Secules got hurt and Drew came in. The place went nuts. Later, Bledsoe scrambled and took a hit that almost literally bent him in half (0:20 mark of the video) and I thought he was dead. The whole stadium went completely silent, but he hopped up and kept going. Guy was tough. Pats blew a 10 point lead and lost in OT. That game cemented my NFL, Patriots, and Bledsoe fandom. I come from a big baseball family, and nobody really understands why I like football so much, but that game is why.My clearest memory isn't one when the team was good. It was Bledsoe's first year, season finale against Miami. I was there that day in the stands.
The Pats had Parcells and Bledsoe but they still started 1-11. There were some promising signs from Bledsoe but there were a lot of really terrible throws and decisions too, and for a while there was doubt if Bledsoe would actually be a franchise QB. He did a lot of boneheaded things his rookie year.
But then the Pats started playing better and somehow they won 3 in a row to get to 4-11. There were rumors that Orthwein had finalized a deal to move the team to St. Louis to be renamed the Stallions, and that the Pats were done. Kraft had not yet gotten involved in keeping the team.
Miami came in at 9-6 and needing a win to make the playoffs. But the Pats were playing well and the game went back and forth. Finally Bledsoe did this in OT (2:03 of the video):
View: https://youtu.be/6ZQa4G6FveA?t=123
The crowd went INSANE. Not only was it a big win but it also seemed like the very last game for the Pats in New England. Bledsoe gave an interview on the field after the game saying as much.
So we knew we had foundations, but thought they might move away just as they were getting promising. Kraft stepped in, and that was that.
These clips make me so nostalgic... they jerseys, prime Berman, the music, Bledose, Glenn. Ah, to be 12 years old again. Also, did we really watch TV with such poor resolution?
Cassel >>> Cam.If you look at Pats QB's over time, the ranked list:
1.) Some guy.
<gap>
2.) Bledsoe
<huge gap>
3.) Grogan
4.) Eason
5.) Cam
<ginormous, ridiculous, galaxial gap>
All others
Agree. Since added.Cassel >>> Cam.
Babe Parilli and Jim Plunkett would like a word about rankings 4-6.If you look at Pats QB's over time, the ranked list:
1.) Some guy.
<gap>
2.) Bledsoe
<huge gap>
3.) Grogan
4.) Eason
4A.) Cassell
6.) Cam
<ginormous, ridiculous, galaxial gap>
All others
EDIT: Forgot Matt Cassell; thanks @rodderick
You’re not even going to give Hugh Millen a mention?My bad for leaving out Parilli; I was focused mainly on the post-merger era. I always thought Plunkett was awful with the Pats; he got a lot better after he left.
Eason was mostly a game manager in the Pats Super Bowl season, and his disastrous Super Bowl performance wasn't all his fault, no matter what that asshole John Hannah says. And Eason had a really good year the following season, until the defense collapsed late in the year and the team's season ended with Eason being sacked in the end zone in Denver. But his career accomplishments puts him slightly ahead of Cassel's single season of meaningful play.
Grogan gets a bit overrated by the nostalgia crew. He was very good during that 1976-78 run the team had, but was also prone to a lot of bad throws at inopportune times. He could scramble, which I think made up for his limitations, until injuries caught up to him.
If I had a do-over:
Brady
Bledsoe
Parilli
Grogan
Eason
Cassel
Plunkett
Cam
Doug Flutie, only because he actually went 8-5 as a starter over parts of 3 seasons.
<a bunch of guys competing for the Scott Zolak memorial trophy as most memorable backup/bad QB in the pre-Brady era>
Among the rest, the best named was probably Tom Flick, not to be confused with Tom Owen. The most overhyped among the backups was probably Matt Cavanaugh. Most forgotten is probably Tom Ramsey or Bob Blier (replacement player). Worst by far is either Tommy Hodson or Marc Wilson. I'll give Jeff Carlson a pass, as that OL had already ensured that the 3 QB's ahead of him on the depth chart were already dispatched to the IR. And his 2 losses helped the team secure the Bledsoe pick. And there was Scott Secules, the QB that Bledsoe beat out in training camp for the starting job. Not sure where to rank the 30 combined passes thrown by John Freisz and Michael Bishop during Brady's rookie season.
I remember a headline somewhere about a "Hugh Millen-ating loss".You’re not even going to give Hugh Millen a mention?
I remember when the 3-8 Pats beat the 10-1 Bills on Millen's TD run in 4th quarter, one of the announcers saying that the Patriots had finally found their leader.Hugh Millen was the most exciting bad QB I've ever seen. I mean that as a compliment. That 6-10 season was a lot of stupid fun.
Yeah, sandwiched between 1-15 and 2-14, that season seemed fantastic. I will state, though, that that win against the Oilers was one of my favorites pre-Bledsoe (I was just too young to really remember the Squish the Fish AFC Championship game or much else up to that poitn). Listening to it on the radio on a long car-ride home from Boston, the excitement from Gino and Gil describing McMurty breaking away for the game winning TD. I think that first Bills game (that they only lost by 5) was one that also featured like a crazy 92 yard punt, and the 2nd game they actually won against the Bills in the middle of their 4-peat of AFC championships. (must have felt like to them the same as whenever like the Dolphins won against Brady).Hugh Millen was the most exciting bad QB I've ever seen. I mean that as a compliment. That 6-10 season was a lot of stupid fun.