Brady article in DetNews

Submitted by RoxyMtnHiM on

Good Tom Brady article by A Changelis in the DetNews:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120119/SPORTS0201/201190371/Patriots-star-Tom-Brady-proved-himself-Michigan-has-not-stopped?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports

This piece counters the myth a bit, that Brady was underappreciated and overlooked when he was at Michigan. Mentions his 20-5 record, bowl wins over vaunted SEC opponents, how he nearly saved Lloyd's butt against MSU after Lloyd had ridden Henson too long in that game. Of course no one could see what he was about to do in the NFL -- statistically speaking, no one does what he's done. It's also worth noting that during Brady's five years in AA, there were three other QBs on the roster who would play in the NFL.

One thing that I've never seen brought up is the opening drive of the '98 Notre Dame game, Brady's first as a starter. I'm totally in the school that a game can swing entirely on one play anywhere along the way. The '98 game was in South Bend, and Brady is shoving the ball down the Domers' throats. Inside the five, about to stick it in, and Lloyd yanks Brady and puts Scott Driesbach in. Driesbach had a bit of a star-crossed career at UM, led the then biggest ever comeback against UVa in Carr's first game as HC, had some injuries IIRC, Griese took over the team in '96/'97. Driesbach landed on the backburner, even though he eventually hung around the NFL for a while. He was a senior in '98 and from somewhere right near South Bend. I guess Lloyd wanted to get the guy a touchdown in his hometown swansong. Not a bad impulse but questionable football judgment. Driesbach goes in cold and fumbles. ND drives the length of the field to score and never looks back.

EDIT: It has been poined out below that my recollection immediately above is not quite reliable. We were up 3-0, shooting to go up 10-0, Dreisbach fumbled and the game was soon tied, 3-3. We led at the half, but not by as much as the statistics might've suggested. Then we lost. This shit will happen when you get old and have watched a lot of football games, kids.

Six Zero

January 19th, 2012 at 10:24 AM ^

Still hangs in the closet in his honor.  I think alot of these reporters try to make it sound like none of us really loved him, but come on... remember that game against Sparty?  Never looked back...

True Blue Grit

January 19th, 2012 at 10:31 AM ^

Brady and Henson.  One of Carr's stupider moves IMO.  But, I'm so happy that TB stuck it out at Michigan.  The competitive situation definitely helped develop his skills and work ethic. 

Bando Calrissian

January 19th, 2012 at 10:37 AM ^

It's been a long time since we've had a mention around here of Scott Dreisbach and his traitorous thumb.

Somewhere around here, I still have a #12 jersey signed by him at the '97 Football Bust, my middle school-aged self thinking this guy still could be the greatest of all time...

Section 1

January 19th, 2012 at 10:44 AM ^

And nice to know that there is at least one great beat-writer for Michigan sports.  Kudos to the newly redesigned DetNews website as well.  Beating the hell out of the 'competition,' such as it may be.

BeatOSU52

January 19th, 2012 at 11:32 AM ^

It is amazing how much Michigan haters really believe in this myth.  In their minds, every time Brady went in the game, every Michigan fan booed him.  Complete BS.

StephenRKass

January 19th, 2012 at 1:08 PM ^

Truth was somewhere inbetween. Many people thought Drew Henson was the best thing since sliced bread, and couldn't wait until he was the starter. I think football Cognoscenti knew that it is almost always a bad idea to play a freshman QB. The fact he was on the field at all as a freshman is a clear indicator that Henson was very highly thought of.

Regardless, this is a great reminder that no matter how much hype there is about incoming freshmen recruits, it is rare that they step in and can start immediately. This is particularly true for the QB and point guard (which makes Trey Burke's emergence all the more amazing.)

Michigasling

January 19th, 2012 at 2:32 PM ^

that it's Steinbrenner's fault that the Pats got Brady for nothing and caused them to plague the NY teams ever since. 

As a Brady lover who didn't follow recruiting in the days before discovering this here blog and becoming an addict, and watching the games from a distance on TV, I couldn't understand why Carr kept putting in that Henson guy.  Couldn't the frosh wait his turn like Brady did?  A few years later, on a TV feature before the OSU game, who should be leading the OSU pep rally but good old George.  An OSU booster with a farm team in Columbus.  Hence trying (and succeeding) to get Henson out of there before his time.  Wondered why the Yankees should put such pressure on a kid to take the money and run.

All the NFL scouts knew was that the Michigan coaches didn't have enough confidence in Brady to let him play without inserting the wunderkid.  (Carr later said it was because Henson needed practice, being unavailable during baseball season, whether or not it was in part because Henson was being pressured to leave.)

So that's my conspiracy theory.  I do remember the OT bowl victory.  Loved that kid Brady.  Whatever happened to him?

Eye of the Tiger

January 19th, 2012 at 2:30 PM ^

...and no, not because of his insane success in the NFL.  It was because of all the times he took us from a near-unwinnable situation and won the game.  It was because of the way he seemed to survey the field so quickly and find whoever was open, even if it was his 5th read.  It was because of the way he battled off Henson, who all the so-called experts claimed was more talented, but in the end wasn't nearly the football player--or Michigan Man--that Brady was.  

The 2000 Orange Bowl against Alabama was a thing of immense beauty.

M-Wolverine

January 19th, 2012 at 3:20 PM ^

In the thread, not the article. 

People were clamoring for the next great thing Henson to take over, and Brady took tons of crap, particularly his first year, and all the way to just about the MSU game his senior year. There were very few wanting to stick with the upperclassman with Henson behind him, and all this "I knew he was the guy to start at Michigan all along" is a load.  Maybe 2 in 10 people thought Brady should be the starter in the fanbase.  I know...I argued with them back then.  (I mean, if Denard still gets questioned as a starter, and he doesn't have Drew Henson behind him, how do you think fans reacted to a loss when Brady was QB?)  I mean even the people who really liked him as QB thought he'd be a journeyman or career back-up in the NFL.  Too many people want to cover up that they were on his ass for a year and a half now that he's an all time NFL QB and act like they had his back the whole time.  It's ridiculous.

And my bias wasn't any great football knowledge...though I always believed Michigan meant going with the upperclassman if all things were equal...just that I already liked Brady-

 

Brady lived in the apartment above Shea in a building two blocks from Schembechler Hall. "I'd hear his door shut at 5 in the morning," Shea said, laughing at the memory.

That's the apartment building we shared.  (And the parking lot Shea killed my poor driver's side rearview mirror...RIP, Probe).  So I am not saying I'm smarter than everyone else. I'm just saying that backing Brady was a lonely proposition back in 1998...and for awhile in 1999.

FrankMurphy

January 19th, 2012 at 5:11 PM ^

It's true that he took a lot of crap from the fans and media while he was here, but a lot of the Michigan haters who have jumped on the Tom Brady bandwagon argue that Michigan didn't utilize him enough or that he was mediocre in college, which is just plain inaccurate. I've heard people say idiotic things like "Brady didn't even start at Michigan" or "Brady was not one of Michigan's best QBs."

Brady took over 80% of the snaps during his two year stint as the starter. Henson was only brought in for a few series a game (and even that ended after the '99 MSU game). Even this article overstates the extent to which Henson was used in '98 and '99. And Brady was damn good even at Michigan; he finished his career in the top 3 in yards and completions, both single-season and all-time. He's still top 5 of most of those categories. If you read his teammates' comments from back then, you see the same things that people say about him today: that he has ice water in his veins, he's clutch, he's one of the most competitive players they've been around. Brady has always been a great QB. Michigan and the Patriots were the only teams that gave him the opportunity to prove it. 

M-Wolverine

January 20th, 2012 at 1:00 PM ^

Where he was a typical, talented, Michigan first year starter. He had his ups and downs, like all QBs do.  But his senior year, I've never seen Michigan's offense more unstoppable than when he was in and they went four wides.  Outside of snaps 20 feet over his head, I felt like we could score on anyone, at will.  That's why even before he became TOM BRADY in the NFL, and only played two years, he would have been on more short list of picks of "Michigan QB you'd take on your all time great team" not because of his accomplishments, but because I felt he'd be the most likely to lead us to a win.

Eye of the Tiger

January 19th, 2012 at 8:37 PM ^

I was at Michigan during Brady's first year as a starter, and spent most of my time with Michigan grads during his second.  Very few people I knew liked the Henson experiment, and most had concerns about Henson's FLOYDFLOYDFLOYD-esque obession with David Terrell, even when he was double covered.  

Sure Henson was a prodigy of sorts, but putting him in for a quarter as a freshman was a dumb idea, and Brady was far and away the more ready for prime time.  This wasn't a fringe view--it was clear to most people I knew then who cared about Michigan football.  

 

M-Wolverine

January 20th, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^

Wildly cheering Henson going in.  Guys at bars during road games screaming for Tom's head, and yelling for Lloyd to play Henson. I'm sure there were probably some newspaper debates at the time too.  I bet your average dorm had the same discussions.  You're talking about people who follow and know a little football. I'm talking about the average fan.  And they weren't particularly kind to Brady. People forget he started off 0-2.  And you know how that would go over NOW...how was it right after winning the National Championship?  Not well.

FrankMurphy

January 19th, 2012 at 4:17 PM ^

It's simultaneously amusing and sad to hear Michigan haters try to argue that Brady was underappreciated or mediocre in college. He finished his career in the top 3 of almost every passing category, both single season and career. He's still top 5 in most of those categories. The QBs who passed him, John Navarre and Chad Henne, were 4- and 3-year starters. Brady was drafted in the 6th round because most scouts thought he lacked the physical stature to be a good NFL QB, not because Michigan didn't put him to good use.  

Also, Michigan was the only big-time school that offered him a scholarship. All of the Pac-10 schools ignored him. 

Bando Calrissian

January 19th, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^

The point isn't that he was underappreciated in college.  Rather, it's the fact that if you had told someone at the moment he was hugging Lloyd on the field after the 2000 Orange Bowl that within a decade he'd have a fistful of Super Bowl rings, a famous actress baby-mama, a marriage to a supermodel, and be a no-doubt first-ballot Hall of Famer, they would have never believed it.  We all pretty much expected he was going to be a great college quarterback that would be a low-rounder that would maybe hang around the league a few years, and that would be it.

FrankMurphy

January 19th, 2012 at 5:17 PM ^

I agree, but Michigan haters act like Michigan had absolutely nothing to do with his success. You're right that most people didn't expect him to achieve this much, and our fanbase has its share of bandwagoners who booed him while he was here and now constantly point out that he played at Michigan. But he was a great QB even when he was here. To say that he only excelled in the pros is pure fantasy. 

snarling wolverine

January 20th, 2012 at 4:58 PM ^

There is some confusion in this thread.  Henson did not rotate with Brady when he was a freshman.  That year he only played in seven games, and it was just mop-up duty.  In two of those games (Indiana and PSU) he attempted one pass apiece, and in another game (Arkansas) he attempted two. 

The only game he really played much was Syracuse, because we got killed and Brady was pulled early on.  He attempted 20 passes in that game . . . and 27 the rest of the season. 

It was when Henson was a sophomore (and Brady a senior) that the rotation happened.