Patriots

Morning sports update: Drew Bledsoe admitted he thought Tom Brady was ‘never going to be a starter’

"We had him over for dinner probably at least every other week. But just really liked him."

Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady during the 2001 season. Via Globe Archives

By Hayden Bird

The Celtics defeated the Grizzlies on Wednesday night, 119-95. Boston used a 23-0 run in the second quarter to help win its second in a row.

On Friday, the Celtics will be in Orlando to face the Magic at 7 p.m.

Drew Bledsoe offered an honest recollection of rookie Tom Brady: It’s difficult in 2020 for football fans to put themselves back in a mindset when Tom Brady was just a fourth-string backup. The 42-year-old has become inextricable with winning and championships in New England.

Yet in 2000, when Brady was a rookie, his circumstances were far different. The Patriots put the former University of Michigan quarterback at the bottom of the depth chart initially, and his ceiling was seen as that of a backup.

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Former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, in part of an upcoming E:60 interview on ESPN, admitted thinking as much about Brady.

“Here’s the real truth,” Bledsoe began, “so when he was on the practice squad his rookie year, I actually called my financial advisor about him. I was like, ‘Hey, I really like this kid. He’s never going to be a starter. He’s going to be Jason Garrett or one of those guys that’s just going to be around forever. You’ll really like the kid.'”

Bledsoe’s friendship has endured with Brady over the years despite their head-to-head competition first with the Patriots and then in the AFC East.

“We kind of brought him in. He was over our house,” Bledsoe recalled. “We had him over for dinner probably at least every other week. But just really liked him. Liked the kid. I thought he was just [great] and still do. But nobody, outside of maybe Tom himself, would ever have predicted that he was going to go on to be a starter in the league and be in the conversation as one of the greatest of all-time.”

The interview with Bledsoe will air on Sunday, January 26 at 7 p.m. on ESPN 2.

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Trivia: Bledsoe was taken first overall in the 1993 NFL draft. He was the first of two top-5 picks taken out of Washington State during the 1990s. Who was the other?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: He played in just 22 games with the team that drafted him.

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On this day: In 2005, the Patriots went into Pittsburgh and defeated the Steelers 41-27 in the AFC Championship game. Tom Brady battled a 103-degree fever the night before the game and had an IV in his left arm.

Yet 24 hours later, he threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Deion Branch to help put the Patriots on top early, and New England never looked back.

Daily highlight: At the World Indoor Bowls Championship in Great Yarmouth, England, Nick Brett had “about six inches between the two bowls,” as his teammate nonchalantly explained. Brett laughed before calmly placing his shot perfectly. (Learn more about the rules of bowls).

Trivia answer: Ryan Leaf

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