Excellent, relevant article: "[Tom] Brady Has Defied Math Since College."
We're all marks for Tom Brady stuff, and this article (I saw it linked by national NFL writer Bill Barnwell) is heavy on Brady and heavy on quality numbers. Of particular interest to us is the inclusion of substantial detail from Brady's Michigan career, and a clear implication that his ability (and luck) in close games was something that started with us.
A representative quote:
Such results at Michigan may have felt fluke-ish for the guy who was a good college quarterback but not a great one. But nearly 20 years later, the end of the 1999 season at Michigan turned out to be the perfect indicator of what was to follow in the NFL.
Come for Tom Brady stuff, stay for the eye-opening Michigan detail. Worth your time. Pay close attention to the discussion of Michigan's record in close games.
Edit: Adjusted the title so that nobody thinks the article is about Hoke.
February 7th, 2017 at 2:19 PM ^
he would've defied math since high school.
February 7th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^
If he played for MSU...he would've defiled math since high school.
February 7th, 2017 at 3:11 PM ^
*Avoided* math.
February 7th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^
"...Has Defied Math Since College."
Sparty: "See, you aren't so superior after all."
February 7th, 2017 at 2:26 PM ^
How did the responses to a Tom Brady article start off with three Sparty references? Come on now y'all
February 7th, 2017 at 2:33 PM ^
I know, 5 if you count me referencing them by proxy.
February 7th, 2017 at 8:43 PM ^
Speaking of 4 and then 5, check out this t-shirt and notice which finger the latest Super Bowl ring is on....
February 7th, 2017 at 3:02 PM ^
The article didn't even mention that Brady also led us to comeback wins in the previous year's bowl game against Arkansas, as well as the 1999 opener against ND.
February 7th, 2017 at 3:02 PM ^
One Pats receiver is a former lacross player at PSU and the other is a former option QB from Kent State. Getthing the win with those two receivers in the Super Bowl blows my mind.
February 7th, 2017 at 7:07 PM ^
February 7th, 2017 at 3:42 PM ^
I heard someone else refer to him as good, not great.
A refresh of Brady's accomplishments at Michigan (kinda goes against "good college quarterback but not a great one"
(from our friends at Wikipedia, that all-knowing resource) -
"In the two seasons that Brady started at Michigan, he posted a 20–5 record, including his two largest victories at the Citrus Bowl (1999) and the Orange Bowl (2000). Brady finished his career ranking 3rd in Michigan history with 710 attempts and 442 completions, 4th with 5,351 yards and 62.3 completion percentage, and 5th with 35 touchdown passes"
As to his SB51 comeback...I agree the foundation was laid at UM:
"Against Michigan State, Brady was not chosen to play the second half; however, he was reinserted into the game with Michigan down by 17 points, and he nearly led Michigan all the way back before losing 34–31. After a 300-yard passing game the following week, Carr went exclusively with Brady for the remainder of the season. Brady went on to lead Michigan to multiple 4th-quarter comebacks, including a remarkable 31–27 win against Penn State, and leading them out of a close game against Indiana, 34–31, heading into the regular season's final game, winners of three straight, earning him the moniker of "Comeback Kid"."
February 7th, 2017 at 3:51 PM ^
When Brady was recruited I remembered hearing about this awesome QB from California that was going to be great. And Brady was great at Michigan. The game against Alabama alone was worth drafting him. He was and is a world beater.
Playing Henson at all when Brady was here was a mistake. We got one o.k. year from Henson, but in the end he sort of screwed the program and himself. Henson and Brady's combine killed him in the draft.
February 7th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^
I disagree. Hindsight now tells us that Brady was the future all-timer, and in 1999 I felt Brady was the better choice to run the offense throughout the season, but Lloyd was in a tough spot. Henson was the equivalent of a 5-star talent, but he was also a desirable baseball prospect who wasn't guaranteed to stay in football for his entire college career (he didn't, as we found out).
Carr had to play things very carefully and give Henson a legitimate shot to win the job. He did that. People can debate about whether or not Michigan wins the MSU game with Brady at the helm in the second half*, but it basically didn't hurt the team, and it kept Henson involved. And that ok year you cite of Henson's was in fact a brilliant season featuring either the best offense or one of the two best offenses that Michigan ever produced under Lloyd Carr, what is still Michigan's last win in Columbus, and a good season that was undermined by a poor defense rather than a struggling offense.
I have issues with a fair amount of what Lloyd did in his tenure (note the remarks about his unwillingness to adapt when the run wasn't working) but I think he handled the Brady/Henson competition in 1999 about as well as he or anyone else could have.
* I don't think so at all and I don't think it's a close question--MSU was doing whatever it wanted on offense and would have continued to score if it had needed to, Henson was indeed responsible for the huge 1st-half bomb TD, and Brady wouldn't have been allowed to begin the 2nd-half comeback even if he had started the 3rd quarter because Lloyd wasn't ready to abandon the run. And we all know that Michigan needed to abandon the run under Carr in those circumstances.
February 7th, 2017 at 4:42 PM ^
Henson had a good season when he played full time, but Brady was the superior QB both years they platooned. At the time I found it annoying that Lloyd had had to accomodate a 5* kid because he might leave the program if didn't get in. And a lot of that time he shouldn't have been in. Who knows maybe it made Brady a better player, but back then it was annoying and felt like Lloyd was screwing with Brady.
I was shocked when Brady went in the sixth round. After Grbac, Collins and Greise I thought sure Brady would have been a first or second round pick. (I didn't know about his combine until two years later.) We just kept reloading back then and I was always pissed that Henson was jumping his spot in line.
February 7th, 2017 at 3:08 PM ^
It should be pointed out that Michigan averaged 3.2 ypc in Brady's final season at Michigan. That is the worst mark in the past quarter century of the program. That he was able to take that team to a 10-2 record really speaks to his ability.
February 7th, 2017 at 3:58 PM ^
Good point, an example of Lloydball not working because Michigan couldn't do what Lloyd wanted to do (many such examples exist). This was especially notable in key games such as Michigan State and Alabama, where Michigan's ground game basically didn't exist.
Anthony Thomas ran for 1257 yards at a respectable 4.4 ypc, but nobody else on the team tallied even 100 yards total for the season. The running game just wasn't happening. Interestingly, the Illinois loss (remains perhaps the most shockingly bizarre Michigan loss of my lifetime) happened because AT was running rampant to stake us to a huge lead, but then got dinged. He could have kept playing, but because the game was thought to be out of reach and Lloyd wanted to be cautious with him (we were up by 20 points, I think, this is not a ridiculous presumption) he sent Thomas to the locker room, and everything fell apart.
When Lloyd finally let the offense open the throttle in East Lansing and in Miami, future GOAT Tom Brady had David Terrell, Marcus Knight, and Marquise Walker to throw to. Michigan's subsequent evisceration of those defenses was kind of inevitable.
February 7th, 2017 at 7:20 PM ^
After I read your post, I looked up the stats on MGoBlue and we were constantly under 4 ypc except for 2003 and 2006. After Biakabutuka left, it always felt like yards were hard to come by. Chris Perry had that great senior season, but he needed a lot of carries to pick up his yards. It didn't feel exactly the same way with Mike Hart, but he had no help back there.
We keep producing OL linemen, so that's not the problem. I wonder if it truly was Lloydball at fault.
February 8th, 2017 at 2:34 AM ^
Nonsense calling him good, not great. He was the best in college n the best in NFL. Carr's promise to Henson about playing time cost Michigan a National Title and the NFL Combine cost 31 teams a chance at greatness. The Patriot's were very,very lucky.TB1012 GOAT.
February 7th, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^
I thought this was an article on Hoke and his exquisite track record.
February 7th, 2017 at 3:40 PM ^
February 7th, 2017 at 4:03 PM ^
The only kind of track he has been on
February 7th, 2017 at 7:09 PM ^
February 7th, 2017 at 4:06 PM ^
was everything. At Michigan, his work ethic was off the charts. His teammates knew what he was capable of if given the chance. And then his coach, whose ability to recruit along with his staff was completely undervalued and never given its due, finally discovered the golden vein of success that Tom Brady possessed.
When Brady came to Lloyd Carr to seek a transfer, Lloyd handed him the transfer papers. His dad, whom Brady acknowledged last week was his hero, counseled him against it. I remember Brady at Media Day in Michigan Stadium sitting by himself. I got his autograph for my son. I still have it. He earned everything he ever got at Michigan, which, to me, is the way it ought to be. There's nothing wrong with that because it made this guy what he is.
That Brady left Michigan drafted not until the 6th round is now part of his legend as the greatest of all time. The fact is when he arrived at Michigan and played out his career, he was never the darling of Michigan fans until late in his tenure. This is just the way it was, and those who want to claim otherwise, are simply trying to rewrite reality to fit their own agenda.
February 7th, 2017 at 4:50 PM ^
Michigan acceptance was a big thing for Brady. Wasn't this past year the first time he came back to the Big House?
February 7th, 2017 at 7:16 PM ^
February 7th, 2017 at 4:18 PM ^
One of the worst things Lloyd ever did was not knowing what he had in Brady. It cost him another Natty IMO.
February 7th, 2017 at 4:48 PM ^
1999 should have been another National Title. Sigh.
February 7th, 2017 at 6:00 PM ^
Thanks for the share stephenjrking! Very interesting. My honest opinion is that there will unfortunately never be a time in which Tom Brady will get the ful credit he deserves from everyone. That's okay as all of us still understand he is the GOAT.
One of the things about him though is his college career that in my mind is slightly overlooked by most. Looking at it overall it looks and feels like a "Good but not great" type of college career, but if you do take a close look at some things such as the end of the 1999 season, it is clear that there really was something incredible under the surface.
February 7th, 2017 at 6:07 PM ^
That PSU comeback is one of my all-time favorite games. I remember mentioning this on here and someone pointed out that the reason they were down so much in the 4th quarter was because of his interception that he threw. When the comeback was complete on Sunday, one of the thoughts that went through my head was the similarity in circumstances between that game and the PSU game. He's always been and always will be an all-time great in my mind.
February 7th, 2017 at 7:19 PM ^
2030: Tom Brady hired as Michigan quarterback coach.
2031: Brady becomes Offensive Coordinator.
2032: Having won five national championships, Jim Harbaugh hands Brady the whistle and clipboard, and Tom Brady takes over as U of M head football coach.
2033: Jim Harbaugh leads the Detroit Lions to their first Superbowl victory.
Truth or fiction?
February 7th, 2017 at 9:02 PM ^
That has already happened, is happening RIGHT NOW, and will happen again.
Yeah it doesn't really make me feel any better either.
February 7th, 2017 at 9:24 PM ^
Yes, I was one of the assholes calling for Drew Henson to start. Brady seems to be fueled by the doubters and the critics so in a weird way perhaps the "asshole" club helped to propel Brady to his present day stardom. Seeing Tom Brady achieve this level of greatness is one of just many reasons I love being in the Michigan alum club. Go Tom!
February 7th, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^
My wife has defied math since college, too. Our bank acct can attest.
February 15th, 2017 at 1:05 AM ^
defy math.