Archives for November 3, 2002

‘”What,” Belichick asked, “were the other options?” The Patriots weren’t about to trade Brady, who won a Super Bowl at 24. They weren’t about to keep Brady and the $100 million contract of Bledsoe. Honk if you were making sport of the Patriots when they were 3-0 and Brady was finding open receivers at will. Bledsoe never reached this stratosphere in nine seasons with the Patriots. There’s no reason to think it would have happened if he stayed.’

‘Yes, Belichick and Brady gave the Patriots their first Super Bowl victory. But what Bledsoe does from this point on might provide Belichick’s real legacy in New England.’

‘In the end, New England did everything right. It replaced an aging and injured Bledsoe with the young quarterback who won the Super Bowl. It isn’t the Patriots’ fault that Bledsoe has recovered and found new life in a place that was supposed to be hopeless. It won’t be their fault, either, if he goes out and throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns on the way to a 10-point win.’

‘Here’s one argument for Tasker, who was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times: The margin between him and the second-best special-teams player was wider than the margin between the best and second-best player at any other position on the Hall of Fame ballot.’

‘Belichick didn’t want to trade Bledsoe to a team in the Patriots’ division, but he had to accept the best offer and worry about the consequences later. Now, later is here.’

The Bills are playing well, though, and that’s a big thing. They aren’t just Bledsoe; they have a good running game with Travis Henry and good wide receivers and a pretty good defense. They really have some things going right now.