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A longtime rival of the New England Patriots gave a brutal take about the famous switch from Drew Bledsoe to Tom Brady.
He delivered the hit that inadvertently brought Tom Brady onto the NFL stage and launched a dynasty for the New England Patriots, but former New York Jets outside linebacker Mo Lewis isn’t taking any of the blame he thinks belongs to Drew Bledsoe.
It was Bledsoe who was on the receiving end of Lewis’ thunderous hit along the sideline when the Jets visited Foxboro back in Week 2 of the 2001 season. Bledsoe was the face of the franchise, a $100-plus million asset forced to leave the stadium in an ambulance, fighting for his life amid a damaged blood vessel in his chest, little knowing his fate and that of the Patriots was about to be reshaped by an unknown passer.
Brady was an unheralded sixth-round draft pick who went on to become TB12, winner of seven Super Bowl trophies, six of them collected in a Patriots uniform. He was the catalyst for an unprecedented era of dominance, along with head coach Bill Belichick, and the debate about who was most responsible for the sustained success is the subject of an upcoming book from author Gary Myers, entitled “Brady vs. Belichick.”
Jets Fans: Mo Lewis says in my “Brady vs. Belichick” book that he resents being blamed for starting the Tom Brady Era with his hit on Drew Bledsoe in 2001. Do you blame him for Pats dynasty? Should Lewis, one of best LBs in @nyjets history, be inducted into their Ring of Honor?
https://twitter.com/GaryMyersNY/status/1961193150267232530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1961193150267232530%7Ctwgr%5E2f588cf47e697002d1d8c4992905ccaf0e364caf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheavy.com%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Fnew-england-patriots%2Fmo-lewis-tom-brady-drew-bledsoe%2F
Myers interviewed Lewis for the book, and let’s just say the three-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro has no time for the critics and is no mood to show mercy almost a quarter of a century later.
Patriots Rival Shows No Mercy to Drew Bledsoe
Myers’ conversation with Lewis (h/t ESPN’s Rich Cimini) naturally focused on the moment when the veteran belted Bledsoe out of bounds. New England’s QB1 had been running to the first down marker, per This Day in Sports Clips.
September 23, 2001: Mo Lewis drills Drew Bledsoe late in the 4th quarter of the Jets 10-3 win over New England. @TomBrady eventually replaces Bledsoe in the game and remains the Patriots QB for the next 20 years. pic.twitter.com/4paJWB3vD0
https://twitter.com/TDISportsClips/status/1838424307250221502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1838424307250221502%7Ctwgr%5E2f588cf47e697002d1d8c4992905ccaf0e364caf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheavy.com%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Fnew-england-patriots%2Fmo-lewis-tom-brady-drew-bledsoe%2F
Lewis explained to Myers how “[Bledsoe] just signed a $100 million deal to be what type of quarterback? A passing quarterback, correct? Had he not got outside the pocket and ran with the ball, would we be talking about this? Who caused the event? The person who was with the ball.”
It’s a blunt assessment of one of the most famous plays in NFL history, but Lewis doubled down. He believes Bledsoe was “doing what he didn’t sign up for. He signed up to be a passing quarterback. What do I do? I stop the people with the ball. It’s just another play for me. But it’s a different play for him.”
Many may read Lewis’ words as cold, given the extent of Bledsoe’s injury. Yet, Lewis is frank about his reaction at the time, telling Myers, “I’m on the field. I’m not a doctor. I do not know the severity of that hit. It was just another hit. I’m a linebacker. I make tackles. I do not gauge how hard or how soft I hit a person. What you’re trying to do is make me see the future after the hit. I’m telling you, I’m not looking down the line. I’m just trying to stop him from getting a first down. Period.”
It might’ve been just another football play to Lewis, but the hit changed everything for Bledsoe. He went from signing a 10-year contract worth $103 million to riding the bench and watching Brady use rookie charm to sow the seeds of greatness.
Bledsoe wasn’t happy about the situation at the time, but he was able to see the lighter side decades later during a roast of retired Brady. As Bledsoe joked to his unlikely successor, “You were the worst backup quarterback in the history of the NFL. You never understood that when I got healthy, you’re supposed to go sit the hell down.”
Although he was once the prototype of a modern, franchise quarterback, it’s debatable the Pats would’ve been half as successful had Belichick chosen Bledsoe over an ascending Brady.
Tom Brady Powered Patriots’ Dynasty
The debate about who was more important, Brady or Belichick, isn’t really a debate at all. Belichick’s records with and without Brady settle the argument.
With Brady, Belichick has a CV to rival or better any coach in NFL history. Without Brady, Belichick is 82-100, including his five-year stint in charge of the Cleveland Browns before taking over in New England in 2000.
Belichick had just three winning seasons and made the playoffs only twice during full campaigns without Brady as his starting quarterback. Brady essentially provided all the answers when he left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and promptly won another Super Bowl, while Belichick began a rapid slide from which the Patriots are still struggling to recover.
They are counting on Drake Maye to be their next Brady, but he’s got an unlikely kryptonite. The Pats need Maye to play within the confines of a system and do whatever each game and situation demands of him.
That’s how Brady won more, despite lacking Bledsoe’s arm talent. It’s also why Lewis’ hit changed the course of two AFC East rivals.
James Dudko covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko
