TD's best pick of the past 10 years

[dave mcbride]

mike vrabel in the third round (91st pick overall) in 1997. how the hell did the steelers let him go?

[syhuang]

mike vrabel in the third round (91st pick overall) in 1997. how the hell did the steelers let him go?

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Hines Ward

[dave mcbride]

Hines Ward

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ward is good, but he's gotta be a complete stud in the playoffs to match vrabel. that guy plays great in the playoffs.

 

for those who don't remember, the steelers played the pats in the playoffs after the 1997 season, and won 7-6. the deciding play? drew was looking, looking -- pat, pat -- sack!!! fumble! vrabel blindsided him, and that was the game.

[Tortured Soul]

Anything touched by the hands of Belichik doesn't count. I doubt you'd even know the name Tom Brady if not for him.

[drnykterstein]

ward is good, but he's gotta be a complete stud in the playoffs to match vrabel. that guy plays great in the playoffs.

 

for those who don't remember, the steelers played the pats in the playoffs after the 1997 season, and won 7-6. the deciding play? drew was looking, looking -- pat, pat -- sack!!! fumble! vrabel blindsided him, and that was the game.

541005[/snapback]

roids will do that.

[The Jokeman]

mike vrabel in the third round (91st pick overall) in 1997. how the hell did the steelers let him go?

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For his career in Pitt Vrabel was a backup to Jason Gildon. He only became a full time starter after signing with New England as a free agent.

[BB2004]

mike vrabel in the third round (91st pick overall) in 1997. how the hell did the steelers let him go?

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Was TD with the Steelers when Mike Vrabel was let go?

[dave mcbride]

Was TD with the Steelers when Mike Vrabel was let go?

541121[/snapback]

it looks like he escaped right after donohoe left pitt. that error therefore can be attributed to the the post-donohoe regime.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?statsId=3982

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Anything touched by the hands of Belichik doesn't count.  I doubt you'd even know the name Tom Brady if not for him.

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I'd doubt we would know the name of Tom Brady if it was not for Mo Lewis. His hit to Bledsoe collapsing his lung forced BB abd the Pats to go with Brady and really pushed NE into a gut check which made them a TEAM instead of merely being a team.

 

Belichick deserves a ton of credit for choosing Brady after the rest of the league (and Belichick himself) passed numerous times on picking a player who arguably has had more success more quickly than any player in NFL history.

 

BB also deserves tons of credit for creating a capable of uniting around the need to step up for a teammate and themselves when their first round drafted QB got hammered (though then one also needs to give BB "credit" for mangling the Milloy situation so badly it united the team in universally aggreeing how badly he bollickeds this situation.

 

Before we get all wet in the eyes (or pants) about BB, I think it is important to realize that without Mo Lewis and his collapsing Bledsoe's lung, I think it is really doubtful this Pats team would have even made the playoffs much less the SB that year (and even with the luck of the hit, without the refs odd application of the tuck rule in the playoffs, this NE squad would not have made the SB).

 

If so, it is a strong possibility that the BB era might never even have taken off and his resume would more likely feature his 5 years leading Cleveland to one losing playoff appearance.

 

In a significant way, one makes one's own luck in life, but even acknowledging his skill as one of the best game HCs ever in the nFL, a key factior for BB has not simply been skill, but dumb luck also.