Tag: Tom Brady (Page 15 of 46)

Just because he’s had a storybook career doesn’t mean that Tom Brady doesn’t get a little emotionally when discussing draft day in 2000.

Or really emotional.

Brady appeared on ESPN’s “Year of the Quarterback” series and broke down when discussing what he went through before hearing his name called with the 199th pick in the sixth round.

Before watching the clip, my initial response to hearing that Brady started crying while recounting how he was a sixth round pick was: Oh, brother. What else could the guy ask for? He’s won three Super Bowls, is often viewed as the decade’s best player, has made millions of dollars and married a supermodel. And he’s crying about being taken in the sixth round? Give me a break.

But then I watched the clip and I had a change of heart. At some point or another, we’ve wanted something so bad that we could taste it. Obviously Brady wanted nothing more than to be a NFL quarterback, to prove himself and also make his parents proud. I can imagine how that was a tough day for him and maybe I would have broken down too while recounting how agonizing the wait was. In fact, it seems like a lot of his emotion stemmed from remember how supportive his parents were.

Either way, everything worked out in the end. In fact, it was almost better that he was taken in the sixth round because it has made his career that much more legendary. A sixth round quarterback winning three Super Bowls? Unheard of.

On a related note, how about the Browns taking Spergon Wynn with the 183rd pick instead of Brady? You know that they must have had Brady on their draft board if they were looking for a quarterback in the sixth and they wind up with Spergon freaking Wynn. If that’s not Cleveland Brown luck, I don’t know what is.

If the NFL factored in the postseason when it came to handing out the MVP award, then maybe Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers would have won this year’s prestigious honor. But the NFL doesn’t factor in the postseason, which is one of the reasons why Tom Brady was named the league’s Most Valuable Player on Sunday.

The other reason, of course, was because Brady was freaking dominant this year. He posted an eye-popping 36:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio and finished with nine multi-touchdown, zero-interception games. Because of his unbelievable numbers, he became the first player in league history to receive all 50 first place votes for the MVP.

Of course, Brady would probably trade the trophy in for one more shot at the Jets and a clean bill of health. Had he not suffered a stress fracture in his foot, many people believe that the Patriots would have gone on to win their fourth Super Bowl in the past 10 years. Instead, New York shocked their division rivals on their home field and sent the Pats home early this year.

But just because he was injured doesn’t mean he escapes criticism for the way he played in the Divisional Round. The interception he threw in the first quarter was brutal and although it didn’t lead to any points by the Jets because they don’t have a field goal kicker, it stopped the Patriots from scoring and gave New York momentum. Considering he threw only four interceptions during the regular season, that pick was certainly out of character for Brady and he’ll have to relive that moment for the next couple of months.

Still, the MVP trophy is a nice consolation prize. Brady is the consummate professional and he’s about championships – not individual trophies. But this no doubt means something to him and it celebrates one of the best regular seasons (at least statistically) that we’ll see by a quarterback.

It’s not surprising that Tom Brady was named AP Offensive Player of the Year. The two-time recipient of the award led the league in touchdowns, fewest interceptions, passer rating and hasn’t thrown an interception in 355 regular season attempts (which is a record).

What is surprising is the fact that he received less than half the votes (21 out of 50). Michael Vick received 11 votes, Arian Foster received seven, Philip Rivers received five, while Roddy White, Aaron Rodgers and DeSean Jackson received two apiece.

All of those players deserve recognition but none of them accomplished what Brady did this past year. How does Vick receive 11 votes? Did people think they were voting for comeback player of the year and not offensive player of the year? I know he had a great season, but he missed four games due to injuries and after getting off to a MVP-like start, he struggled some down the stretch. (All six of his interceptions came in his final five games of the season.)

Rodgers also had better overall numbers than Vick and he only received two votes. He threw seven more touchdowns, had a higher passer rating by (albeit by a slim margin), threw for nearly 1,000 more yards and completed a higher percentage of passes. Granted, Vick did have five more rushing touchdowns than Rodgers but again, I think voters were still in a trance over what Vick was able to accomplish two years after being released from prison.

In the end, it doesn’t matter how many votes a player receives as long as the most deserving player wins. And honestly, I’m not sure if the award should be held for signal callers. Quarterback stats will usually hold more importance than rushing and receiving yards, because the position is held in higher regard. Of course, the argument against my argument is that Brady was clearly the most productive offensive player this season, so why shouldn’t he win the Offensive Player of the Year regardless of what position he plays? Still, I think it’s a bit of an unfair advantage.