Part 3
By his sophomore season, Brady was pushing senior Brian Griese for the starting job. They were neck and neck. But Coach Lloyd Carr had a rule: tie goes to the upperclassmen. Brady was furious. He thought about transferring back home to California. Then he came back the next day, sat down in front of Carr's desk, and said, 'I'm not going to leave and I'm going to prove to you that I'm the best quarterback.' Carr looked into his eyes and saw a guy who would not be denied.
In his junior year, Brady started every game and won 10 of his final 11. But to keep the job as a senior, he had to fend off sophomore Drew Henson, a two-sport phenom from 20 miles outside Ann Arbor. Henson was faster, stronger, quicker, more elusive, with a better arm. Lloyd Carr said, 'I've never been around a guy that has this much potential.' An NFL personnel director said Henson's upside was 'so much higher than Tom Brady's.' But Brady was the captain, the leader, and the best quarterback on the team.
Carr decided to play both guys, going with the 'hot hand.' Michigan won its first five games, but against Michigan State, the Wolverines fell into a 17-point hole with Henson at quarterback. Brady came in and threw for 241 yards in the final 18 minutes, nearly bringing Michigan back. The next week, he threw for 307 yards. The competition was over. Brady was the starter.
Then came the Penn State game. Michigan trailed by 10 in the final minutes. Brady led a game-winning drive, and the legend of the 'Comeback Kid' was born. But his finest collegiate performance came in the Orange Bowl. Michigan fell behind 14-0, then tied it 14-14. Down 28-14 in the second half, Brady brought them back to 28-28. In overtime, he ran a bootleg and hit Shawn Thompson to set up a touchdown. Alabama scored to make it 35-34, but missed the extra point. Michigan won. Brady's Michigan career ended as the 'Comeback Kid.'
If you're keeping score, that's a high school backup, a seventh-string college freshman, a guy who almost transferred, and a senior who had to split time with a sophomore phenom. And yet, by the end, he was the captain, the leader, and the best quarterback on the team. The NFL scouts still weren't convinced. But they should have been.
Why the 49ers Passed and the Patriots Struck Gold
If you were Tom Brady in the winter of 2000, you were not a hot commodity. You were a rumor. A maybe. A late-round name a team might call if they had a spare sixth-round pick and a scout who liked your film. Brady's draft prep was so quiet that only one NFL team called him. One. Bobby Greer of the New England Patriots. Greer told Brady they might draft a quarterback late. Brady didn't say OK. He said, 'Bobby, I guarantee you you will never regret drafting Tom Brady.' That's the moment that hooked me. Not the six Super Bowls. Not the 28-3 comeback. That phone call. A kid with no leverage telling a scout he was about to make the best decision of his professional life.
Now here's what kills me. The team that should have made that call was 20 minutes away. The San Francisco 49ers. Brady grew up in San Mateo. Candlestick Park was a short drive. He was a die-hard 49ers fan. Joe Montana was his idol. At four years old, his dad took him to the 1981 NFC Championship Game. You know the one. Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone. 'The Catch.' Montana to Clark. The play that launched a dynasty. Brady was in the building. He was a toddler watching the 49ers become the 49ers. And then, 19 years later, the 49ers had a chance to draft him. They passed.
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You are asking how. How do you miss a local kid who worships Montana, who went to Serra High School right up the street, who you could have scouted between classes? The answer is the same reason everyone missed. They looked at him. They did not see it.
At the combine, Brady was a tall, gangly kid who looked like he had never seen the inside of a weight room. He ran a 5.2-something 40. One of the slowest quarterbacks in the draft. His arm was just okay. Not a cannon. Not a rope. Just okay. His own coaches at Michigan did not stand on the table for him. They did not call NFL teams and say, 'You are making a mistake if you let this guy leave the building.' In a local combine, Brady did nothing that screamed 'draft this guy.' His 40 time and vertical jump ranked 576th out of 576 quarterbacks in 32 years of scouting. Read that again. Dead last. Out of 576. In 32 years. The numbers said no. The tape said maybe. The gut said pass.
Here is the thing about that 576th ranking. It is not just last. It is last out of everyone who ever tested at the position over three decades. You could pick a random guy from a flag football league and he might accidentally beat that. But Brady did not just test poorly. He tested historically poorly. And yet the film showed a guy who won. At Michigan, he was never the golden child. He was the guy who waited. He was the guy who almost transferred. He was the guy who told his coach, 'I am not going to leave and I am going to prove to you that I am the best quarterback.' That is not a 40 time. That is a personality. That is the thing the 49ers could not measure. That is the thing the Patriots bet on.
