Tom Brady Thinks Tuck Rule Significantly Altered Course Of Career; Bill Belichick Disagrees
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- There's no doubt that if the tuck rule had not been enforced in the 2001 divisional playoff matchup between the Raiders and Patriots, then New England would have lost that game. Tom Brady, though, thinks the impact would have been much greater.
In ESPN's new 30 for 30, "The Tuck Rule," Brady said he believes that Bill Belichick likely would have gone back to Drew Bledsoe as the starting quarterback for the 2002 season.
"I think that I'm probably the backup quarterback going into 2002. That's what I think probably happens," Brady said while playing the "what if?" game with Charles Woodson. "That play is on me. At the end of the day, I gotta see that. I gotta see the blitz. They would say with Drew's experience, that play doesn't happen. I think there's a good chance that I'm not the starter at that point if we lose that game."
Brady added: "A lot of things could have changed based on a couple little milliseconds of a play."
It's an interesting matter to ponder. Belichick had obviously stuck with Brady even after Bledsoe recovered from his injuries, with Brady and the Patriots losing his first start after that decision (to the Rams) but not losing again for the remainder of the season. Brady, though, didn't exactly light it up during that six-game winning streak, throwing six touchdowns and five interceptions with a passer rating of 85.7 and 205.3 yards per game.
It also aligns with the mindset that Brady carried throughout his entire career, from his days splitting reps and fighting for snaps at Michigan, through his NFL career, when he never wanted to even give up a practice rep to a backup, let alone a game rep. He maintained that mentality through his 40s, and it largely defined the rare level of hyper-competitiveness that drove Brady to always be Brady.
Belichick, though, mostly put such a hypothetical to bed.
"I don't think that would've changed," Belichick succinctly stated when asked if a loss to the Raiders would have changed his choice for the team's starting quarterback.
Overall, Belichick was a bit terse during the documentary -- even more so than normal.
"Tuck rule? To me, it's much ado about nothing," Belichick said, before flashing a mini-grin. "Much ado. About nothing."
As we know, the tuck rule was enforced, the Raiders lost the game after that, and the Patriots went on to win in Pittsburgh before upsetting the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. It was the first of three Super Bowl victories in four years for New England. The Raiders made it to the Super Bowl the following year but got blown out by the Buccaneers.
Brady didn't lose his job in New England, Bledsoe was traded to Buffalo, Brady led the NFL in touchdown passes in 2002, and the rest is history. It's certainly unlikely that a loss in the 2001 playoffs would have prevented Brady's greatness from emerging and driving the Patriots to a whole lot of unimaginable success over the years, but he still recognized the importance that the tuck rule had in shifting his trajectory upward in January of 2002.
"I'm very lucky. I look at my career, and this is a one in a billion career," Brady said. "It happened the way that it was gonna happen, and no one could have imagined how it was gonna start."
Brady also added: "I had luck on my side, and I think that luck propelled me in certain ways. I mean, I think if I look back, I was gonna find a way. There was no doubt I was gonna find a way. Because I think I try to make good choices. And when you get lucky and that, I think great things happen."
