When Bill Belichick decided to bench Drew Bledsoe, who returned healthy from a scary injury, for rookie quarterback Tom Brady in 2001, the direction of the franchise changed forever.
The latest documentary on Apple TV, ‘The Dynasty: New England Patriots,’ gave fans a glimpse of the real reason why Bledsoe was benched even after he returned healthy from injury.
In episode two of The Dynasty, Scott Pioli, the former Director of player personnel for Patriots and Ernie Adams, explained the reasoning behind Drew Bledsoe’s benching.
Pioli revealed that Beldosoe’s inability to deal with the pressure from the defense was the primary reason why he was benched. The quarterback had been taking brutal hits over the years and could not keep up any more. Ernie Adams pointed it out after watching the film.
“This is it,” Scott Pioli said while impersonating Ernie Adams. “This is what we’ve been talking about. And he goes Drew, he looks like a wildebeest under attack.
“As coaches, we knew that we had a problem. And with Tom, he was the guy that we thought and truly believed was the answer.”
Drew Bledsoe signed a 10-year $100 million contract extension with the New England Patriots before the 2001 season.
In a week 2 game against New York Jets, he took a massive hit from linebacker Mo Lewis. Bledsoe suffered interal bleeding and was rushed to hospital. Rookie quarterback Tom Brady replaced Bledsoe in that game.
The 22-year-old backup quarterback started the next seven games in place of Bledsoe and won five. Coach Bill Belichick was impressed with what he saw in Brady and stuck with him for the rest of the season.
Bill Belichick was given Bernie Kosar warning before Drew Bledsoe benching
Bill Belichick knows a thing or two about benching the face of the franchise. During his tenure as coach of the Cleveland Browns, he faced immense backlash for benching star quarterback Bernie Kosar.
Kosar was the face and hope of the franchise. When he returned from an ankle injury, he wasn’t the same, though, so Belichck decided to move on. However, that resulted in fan fury, and, eventually, Belichick needed police protection in the neighborhood where he lived.
Bledsoe’s benching was similar, so Scott Pioli had to warn him of the repurcussions of the decision he was about to make:
“We knew that we were gonna be held accountable,” Pioli said. “And I remember saying and Bill, we need to be careful because of what Drew’s given to this organization, what he’s given to this fan base, the hope that he has given so many people. If we don’t handle this, right, we’ve seen that movie before.”
Owner Rob Kraft was upset and felt let down by Belichick for benching his $100 million quarterback for a rookie, byt the coach had made his mind up.
Belichick benching Drew Bledsoe saw the team come together and stuck with rookie quarterback Tom Brady under center. The move led to the New England Patriots winning their first Super Bowl in 2002, and five more would follow in the next 17 years.
