lilpenny1316

January 11th, 2019 at 8:41 AM ^

I still wonder how much the "tuck rule" changed the careers of Brady and Woodson.  Chuck is still a HOFer, but that strip/fumble might have immortalized him in NFL lore if they go on to win the SB.  Brady may have returned to a backup QB position after fumbling the ball and losing the game. 

Maybe everything stays the same and Brady becomes the GOAT.  Or maybe internal politics and leads to Brady being traded somewhere else without the infrastructure to groom a talented young QB (ie. Detroit).

It's a big "what if", like what if Miami signs Drew Brees instead of Daunte Culpepper.  Saban stays in Miami, Urban stays at Florida and OSU hires someone else to replace Tressel/Fickell.

I'm Batman

January 11th, 2019 at 12:01 AM ^

I was traveling around the country building greenhouses at this time. I actually spent the entire football season in New England that year. Split between Cape Cod and New Hampshire half way between New Haven and Hartford. Even went to the Sunday Night game at Foxboro when they lost a good game against the Rams.

I was already a little bit of a Patriots fan after rooting against the Bears and Packers in Superbowls. But i was instantly hooked with Ty Law and Brady leading this team.

By the time the playoffs rolled around i had made it back to Michigan, and ended up laying some pretty good bets on the Patriots with a few friends. Between that and the two squares i hit in the Superbowl pool, that season made me about $2500.

 

GoBlueBill

January 11th, 2019 at 2:57 PM ^

There may have been better QBs , with more natural born talent, arm strength etc. But it seems Tom used his head and he worked really , really hard to be the best .