Tom Brady’s NFL career got its start where it ultimately will end one day: in Canton, Ohio, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The New England Patriots open their 2019 preseason slate Thursday night in Detroit, 19 years after Brady’s debut season in the league. Brady isn’t expected to see any action against the Lions, but the exhibition opener is a chance to look back on the modest beginnings of his legendary career.
The NFL Throwback Twitter account used the opening of the preseason to look back at Brady’s first exhibition which actually came on July 31, 2000, in the Hall of Fame Game against the team Brady grew up rooting for: the San Francisco 49ers.
Brady ended the night completing three of four passes for 28 yards.
Coincidentally, the offensive standout was Patriots backup quarterback Michael Bishop, who completed nine of 13 passes for 101 yards while also running for 50 yards and a touchdown in Bill Belichick’s debut as head coach. The headline to Ron Borges’ column the next morning in The Boston Globe read “Don’t canonize Bishop just yet,” which ended up being a good call.
