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Bledsoe great, but not Hall-worthy
Adam Schein / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 hours ago
Ok, let's just get this out of the way right now on the heels of Drew Bledsoe calling it a career.
Bledsoe at times was truly great. He was an iconic figure in Boston between 1993 and 2001. Pats fans will forever remember Bledsoe-to-Ben Coates.
But he's no Hall of Famer.
Bledsoe was on the teeter-totter between very good and great, not great and elite. I know you can cite his eye-popping total numbers. But when you compare him to quarterbacks of his era (Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Jim Kelly, Peyton Manning, Warren Moon ... and earlier Dan Marino, Joe Montana and John Elway), he falls short of legendary status. When you watched him play, it didn't feel like you were watching an immortal quarterback.
There were two instances that really helped alter his career path.
First, when Mo Lewis popped him in a Jets vs. Patriots game in 2001. It opened up the door for Bill Belichick to insert Tom Brady in the lineup. And Bledsoe, as documented brilliantly in Michael Holley's book Patriot Reign, was never a Belichick guy with his inability to make a quick decision. A move, despite Bledsoe being an entrenched star and being a favorite of the Kraft family and armed with a new contract to prove it, was inevitable. But that hit expedited the process. Brady's brilliance sealed Bledsoe's fate in New England.
We spent a good 15 minutes with Bledsoe yesterday. He reflected on what happened in New England, saying "It was an extremely difficult time for me. To be the starter for 8 1/2 years and to get injured and not have your job when you get healthy, it was very hard. But one thing that I've always believed, you can't control the circumstances. You can only control how you react to them."
But in another instance within his control, it didn't work out for Bledsoe.
While playing for the Buffalo Bills in 2004, the squad lost a home "win and get in" Week 17 game to the Steelers, who were already in the playoffs and were predominately playing backups. If Bledsoe and the Bills win, the quarterback is likely kept around for another year with young J.P. Losman still in development. And that game also helped fuel the perception that Bledsoe wasn't truly a big-game quarterback.
We wondered if those moments wander in Bledsoe's mind after he hangs up the cleats. "I haven't really spent a lot of time second-guessing or playing the 'what if' game. That doesn't matter if you are a football player or not. I've never felt like that game benefits you."
It's amazing to think that one year ago, there were pundits and fans talking about Bledsoe leading the Cowboys to the Super Bowl.
We asked Bledsoe if 2006's misfortunes led to the decision this week.
"The factors involved in retiring don't have as much to do with last season as people might think. I've played for a long time. I've really enjoyed it. But if things would've been perfect this year, I still think I'd make the same decision. You just get to a point, particularly for me with four young children, where the travel is hard. I want to watch my kids grow up. I'll be watching with great interest what Tony Romo does over the next part of his career and I wish him the best."
Why not just stick around as a back-up?
"I've always loved practice. But for me, to do all the things during the week that I love to do in terms of preparation, I have to have that deal at the end of the week where I can go out and play a game. That's just me Being a back-up is not a role I wanted and I never thought I'd be good at honestly.
Since I've been 16 years old I've always been the starter with just some small exceptions. Playing the game, that's what always got my pulse up."
Bledsoe seemed very comfortable in his decision and very eager to spend time with his family and settle in Oregon. And he couldn't be thankful enough to play in front of the hometown fans in Boston ('great passion'), Buffalo ('perhaps the most die-hard fans in sports'), and Dallas ('being the Cowboys quarterback is like pitching for the Yankees').
Adam Schein hosts the Afternoon Blitz on Sirius NFL Radio with Solomon Wilcots and Jim Miller from 3-7 ET. Schein is the NFL insider for Sports Net New York. His "Scheintology" columns appear daily and his video NFL picks video reports appear every Friday on FOXSports.com. Email him at adamjschein@hotmail.com
Adam Schein / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 hours ago
Ok, let's just get this out of the way right now on the heels of Drew Bledsoe calling it a career.
Bledsoe at times was truly great. He was an iconic figure in Boston between 1993 and 2001. Pats fans will forever remember Bledsoe-to-Ben Coates.
But he's no Hall of Famer.
Bledsoe was on the teeter-totter between very good and great, not great and elite. I know you can cite his eye-popping total numbers. But when you compare him to quarterbacks of his era (Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Jim Kelly, Peyton Manning, Warren Moon ... and earlier Dan Marino, Joe Montana and John Elway), he falls short of legendary status. When you watched him play, it didn't feel like you were watching an immortal quarterback.
There were two instances that really helped alter his career path.
First, when Mo Lewis popped him in a Jets vs. Patriots game in 2001. It opened up the door for Bill Belichick to insert Tom Brady in the lineup. And Bledsoe, as documented brilliantly in Michael Holley's book Patriot Reign, was never a Belichick guy with his inability to make a quick decision. A move, despite Bledsoe being an entrenched star and being a favorite of the Kraft family and armed with a new contract to prove it, was inevitable. But that hit expedited the process. Brady's brilliance sealed Bledsoe's fate in New England.
We spent a good 15 minutes with Bledsoe yesterday. He reflected on what happened in New England, saying "It was an extremely difficult time for me. To be the starter for 8 1/2 years and to get injured and not have your job when you get healthy, it was very hard. But one thing that I've always believed, you can't control the circumstances. You can only control how you react to them."
But in another instance within his control, it didn't work out for Bledsoe.
While playing for the Buffalo Bills in 2004, the squad lost a home "win and get in" Week 17 game to the Steelers, who were already in the playoffs and were predominately playing backups. If Bledsoe and the Bills win, the quarterback is likely kept around for another year with young J.P. Losman still in development. And that game also helped fuel the perception that Bledsoe wasn't truly a big-game quarterback.
We wondered if those moments wander in Bledsoe's mind after he hangs up the cleats. "I haven't really spent a lot of time second-guessing or playing the 'what if' game. That doesn't matter if you are a football player or not. I've never felt like that game benefits you."
It's amazing to think that one year ago, there were pundits and fans talking about Bledsoe leading the Cowboys to the Super Bowl.
We asked Bledsoe if 2006's misfortunes led to the decision this week.
"The factors involved in retiring don't have as much to do with last season as people might think. I've played for a long time. I've really enjoyed it. But if things would've been perfect this year, I still think I'd make the same decision. You just get to a point, particularly for me with four young children, where the travel is hard. I want to watch my kids grow up. I'll be watching with great interest what Tony Romo does over the next part of his career and I wish him the best."
Why not just stick around as a back-up?
"I've always loved practice. But for me, to do all the things during the week that I love to do in terms of preparation, I have to have that deal at the end of the week where I can go out and play a game. That's just me Being a back-up is not a role I wanted and I never thought I'd be good at honestly.
Since I've been 16 years old I've always been the starter with just some small exceptions. Playing the game, that's what always got my pulse up."
Bledsoe seemed very comfortable in his decision and very eager to spend time with his family and settle in Oregon. And he couldn't be thankful enough to play in front of the hometown fans in Boston ('great passion'), Buffalo ('perhaps the most die-hard fans in sports'), and Dallas ('being the Cowboys quarterback is like pitching for the Yankees').
Adam Schein hosts the Afternoon Blitz on Sirius NFL Radio with Solomon Wilcots and Jim Miller from 3-7 ET. Schein is the NFL insider for Sports Net New York. His "Scheintology" columns appear daily and his video NFL picks video reports appear every Friday on FOXSports.com. Email him at adamjschein@hotmail.com
My bad..
