Bledsoe announces retirement
Let me start by saying I love Drew Bledsoe. I still (and will always) have hanging on my wall the framed back page of the Boston Globe where Drew says goodbye to the New England fans upon his trade to Buffalo. Not only was he a great player, but he was (and I’d imagine still is) a great person… a total class act. I’ve always respected and admired the way he’s conducted himself. The highlight from the first Super Bowl run, for me, will always be Bledsoe coming into the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh near the end of the first half for an injured Brady. Zip… frozen rope twenty yards down the middle of the field (to Troy Brown, I wanna say). Another couple throws, then a beautiful TD pass to David Patten in the right corner of the end zone. Bledsoe turns to the sideline to jog off the field, shrugging his shoulders and grinning as if to say, “Hey, I can actually play this game a little.”
Now, detractors will point to a play in the second half when he was about to go down and threw the ball up for grabs… although fortunately it was not intercepted. Bledsoe-bashers loved to point to his high INT totals and inability to avoid the rush. Fair points - although I think folks went a bit overboard with that stuff, personally.
But back to the positive: Make no mistake about it, there are three reasons that the Patriots still play in New England instead of St. Louis:
Bob Kraft, Bill Parcells, and Drew Bledsoe
… and they may not necessarily be in that order. Believe me - and ask anyone who actually followed the team back in the early 90s (you know, before it was fashionable to do so). I’m glad Bledsoe got his Super Bowl rink in the Rams SB, and as noted, I’m glad he actually made a big contribution - leading the team to the AFC Championship victory. But… its easy to wonder if he would’ve been the *first* Patriot QB to win a Super Bowl if Troy Brown had been able to play (special teams) against those Packers in ‘97, SB XXXI. Trust me, as a Pats fan, I can assure you that Desmond Howard was the Most Valuable Player in that game. Bledsoe brought the Pats back to within a TD, they had the second-half momentum, they kick off, and… Howard runs it all the way back, winning the Super Bowl for the Packers. Many in these parts *still* wonder out loud if Troy Brown would’ve filled that lane and made the play. Perhaps the Packers would’ve still won, but it’s hard not to ponder, “what if?”. But I digress….
Unlike Tony Eason before him, Bledsoe led his team to a Super Bowl early in his career - and actually played fairly well. For a while they questioned his toughness, until he broke a finger on his throwing hand against Miami and *then* led them to a last-minute victory (beautiful pass to Shawn Jefferson), and the next week with the pin in his finger protruding from the wrap, threw *another* last-minute (specifically, last-second) TD - this time to Ben Coates, to beat the Bills. Finally, three weeks later, in St. Louis, he had to be replaced. This just in… Drew Bledsoe is plenty tough, thank you very much.
Anyhow, as we all know, he almost dies (literally, fwiw) after taking that hit from Mo Lewis - and the Tom Brady Era was born. He gets traded to the Bills, and plays fine - but they decide JP Lohsman is the next coming… which he isn’t. So he goes to Dallas and is reunited with Parcells - until Romo replaces him, and ultimately sends him to retirement.
If you squint, and have a biased bent, you might look at Bledsoe’s career numbers and conclude he belongs in the HOF. Start by comparing him to HOFer Dan Fouts: more yards (44,611 vs. 43,040) and almost as many TDs (251 vs. 254), and not as many INTs (206 vs. 242). That’s right, Fouts career TD/INT ratio is 1.05 and he sits in the HOF - without ever even leading his team to a Super Bowl.
Or just look at his career ranks: 5th all-time in pass attempts, 5th in completions, 7th in passing yards, and 13th in passing TDs. But the fact that he rates this high in these categories, and rates favorably with Dan Fouts speaks more to the fact that Fouts was a bad choice for the HOF than that Bledsoe is deserving of the HOF.
Looking a little deeper, comparing Bledsoe to some other QBs who played a long time and are certainly not going into the HOF without a ticket… we’ll clearly see that Bledsoe can lay claim to enshrinement in the Hall of the Very Good - but not the Hall of Fame:
Bledsoe (14 yrs/194 games) - 3839/6717, 57.2 comp%; 44,611 yds, 6.6 yd/att; 251 TD/206 INT, 1.22 TD/INT ratio; 4 Pro Bowls
Vinnie Testaverde (20 yrs/227 games) - 3693/6529, 56.6%; 45,281 yds, 6.9 yd/att; 270 TD/261 INT, 1.03 TD/INT ratio; 2 Pro Bowls
Dave Krieg (19 yrs/213 games) - 3105/5311, 58.5%; 38,147 yds, 7.2 yd/att; 261 TD/199 INT, 1.31 TD/INT ratio; 3 Pro Bowls
Boomer Esiason (14 yrs/187 games) - 2969/5205, 57.0%; 37,920 yds, 7.3 yd/att; 247 TD/184 INT, 1.34 TD/INT ratio; 4 Pro Bowls
Like Esiason, Bledsoe played 14 years and Esiason has better numbers. Do you think Boomer Esiason belongs in the HOF? Neither do I.
I was trying to find a plausible argument for Bledsoe going to the HOF. You look at Jim Kelly’s career numbers, especially considering it was run-and-shoot offense - and you realize it was getting to four Super Bowls in a row that helped put him over the edge. Okay, I get that. But Bledsoe’s postseason numbers only make things worse:
Bledsoe - 7G, 4-3; 129/252, 51.2 comp%; 1335 yds, 5.3 yd/att; 6 TD/12 INT, 0.50 TD/INT ratio
Testaverde - 6G, 3-3; 115/190, 60.5%; 1329 yds, 7.0 yd/att; 6 TD/5 INT, 1.20 TD/INT ratio
Krieg - 12G, 5-7; 144/282, 51.1%; 1895 yds, 6.7 yd/att; 11 TD/10 INT, 1.10 TD/INT ratio
Esiason - 5G, 3-2; 51/87, 58.6%; 600 yds, 6.9 yd/att; 4 TD/3 INT, 1.33 TD/INT ratio
When Drew Bledsoe is comparable to Testaverde, Krieg, and Esiason in the regular season - and isn’t anywhere as “good” as they were in the postseason… well… Drew Bledsoe will need a ticket to get into the HOF as well.
I still love him.
Okay, I’m done now.