Ex-49ers Coach Explains Why Team Passed On Tom Brady In 2000 NFL Draft

What a story it would have been had the San Francisco 49ers drafted Tom Brady 20 years ago.

Brady, a Bay Area native, grew up idolizing Joe Montana and potentially could have made for a seamless transition in San Francisco following the Steve Young era. Unfortunately for Niners fans, the franchise went in a different direction back in 2000.

The 49ers were the second team to draft a quarterback that year when they selected Hofstra’s Giovanni Carmazzi with the 65th overall pick. Steve Mariucci, San Francisco’s head coach at the time, explained the logic behind the pick Thursday.

“I get asked this every year. Twenty years, ‘Why did you pass on Tom Brady?’ Mariucci said on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access.” “You know what? Here’s what happened: We wanted to play football like we did with Steve Young. Have you heard of him? We wanted to have that athletic quarterback that can run around and do those things. Gio Carmazzi was one of those athletic quarterbacks. Smart guy, athletic, 4.7 (40-yard dash), all that kind of thing. Tom was in a different category.”

Carmazzi lasted in the NFL for just two years and never appeared in a regular-season game for the 49ers. Brady, meanwhile, will be in pursuit of his seventh Super Bowl championship in the 2020 campaign, his 21st in the league.

“He wasn’t ready yet. Boy, is he ready now,” Mariucci concluded. “I mean, this guy was an unbelievable story. At that time, coming out of Michigan, he was a late-round kind of guy. But now, he’s the GOAT.”

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