Tom Brady Could Have -- And Should Have -- Been A New York Giant, Says Former Scout
BOSTON (CBS) -- The New England Patriots proudly display six Super Bowl banners high above the south end zone of Gillette Stadium. It's possible that none of those would exist if the Giants had listened to Whitey Walsh.
A Giants employee for almost 40 years, Walsh told Ian O'Connor of the New York Post that he made a push for the Giants to draft Tom Brady back in 2000 -- in the fourth round, then again in the fifth round, and then once more in the sixth round. The Giants, obviously, didn't listen to their scout.
The Giants drafted linebacker Brandon Short in the fourth round, cornerback Ralph Brown in the fifth round, and linebacker Dhani Jones -- Brady's Michigan teammate -- in the sixth round.
"I said what I said and nobody cared," Walsh told O'Connor about his case for Brady. "They were waiting for backup from some other scout in the room that saw him, and nobody did. ... I thought someone might say, 'Oh yeah, he was great in the Orange Bowl,' but nobody said anything. Dead silence."
Former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi confirmed to O'Connor that Walsh made a "very forceful" case for Brady. Alas, the team didn't take his advice, and the rest is -- of course -- history.
"Every time I watch Brady I think the same thing," Walsh told O'Connor. "I feel exonerated."