Tom Brady Was Almost Passed Over For Jim Harbaugh When Drew Bledsoe Got Hurt

The New England Patriots wanted to turn to a former Michigan quarterback when Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury in 2001 — just not the one you might think.

Bledsoe’s career with the Patriots all but came to an end in Week 2 of that season after being injured on a big hit from New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis. Everyone knows how the story goes from there.

Bledsoe went down, and in stepped little-known backup Tom Brady. The understudy beat Peyton Manning in his first career start and, just a few months later, the Patriots were Super Bowl champions. On Sunday, Brady and Manning will duel for the 17th time, with a berth in his seventh career Super Bowl on the line for Brady.

However, it almost never came to be, at least not in Foxboro. The Washington Post has an insighftul look back at the first meeting between Brady and Manning back in that fateful 2001 season, which was Brady’s first career start. Luckily for the Patriots, they won that game and Brady played well enough to earn another chance.

Had Brady not played well, however, it might have been an entirely different story because, as The Washington Post story points out, the Patriots were working on other plans, plans that included names like Jim Harbaugh and Scott Zolak.

“The Patriots, according to news reports now forgotten and buried under four Super Bowls’ worth of confetti,” writes The Washington Post’s Kent Babb, “considered luring Jim Harbaugh out of retirement. They scouted Eric Zeier and Billy Joe Tolliver and Bert Emanuel, and if none of those passers worked out, former Patriots backup Scott Zolak was in their backyard — selling luxury suites at the yet-unopened facility that would eventually be named Gillette Stadium.”

The Patriots, of course, stuck with Brady. That’s worked out pretty well.