'Tragedy'? Tom Brady Is Wrong About Rookie QBs

Tom Brady is wrong about the "dumbed-down tragedy'' of rookie QBs playing right away in the NFL. And you know who we can use as an example to prove it?

Rookie QB Tom Brady.

A long, long time before Brady came to the Tampa Bay Bucs to extend his incredible run as a Super Bowl GOAT, he was a barely-noticed fourth-string rookie with the New England Patriots.

"Lightly-regarded'' would be putting it kindly.

Now, the way Tom remembers it?

“We used to spend hours and hours in the offseason, in training camp, trying to be a little bit better the next year," Brady said at Fanatics Fest .

And there is no doubt, of course, that Brady - over the course of decades - did indeed spent "hours and hours'' perfecting his craft.

But young Tom, at age 23 and age 24? Did he do that? Spend "hours and hours'' with NFL coaches in the offseason before being allowed to ascent to a starting job? He absolutely did not.

Brady joined New England in 2000 as an unheralded sixth-round pick and as a fourth-string quarterback, behind starter Drew Bledsoe and backups John Friesz and Michael Bishop. By the end of that year, Tom was the No. 2 QB.

How did that elevation happen? Through "hours and hours of offseason work''? Nonsense. Heck, it didn't even happen due to "hours and hours of in-season work,'' because there is no way the Patriots were given a lot of critical time and attention and snaps to a fourth-string rookie.

And yet, it happened. And in his Year 2, it happened in a noticeable way when Drew Bledsoe got hurt in Week 2. Brady took over. ... and the rest is history. He and the Patriots won the Super Bowl. He was named the game's MVP

He'd recently turned 24 and had virtually zero experience as a rookie.

So where was all of that "deep-level development''? Where was the "tragedy''?

Former Giants QB Phil Simms has noted, "I disagree that you’re just throwing them into this. (Because of the advancement in coaching in college), these guys have the talent and the experience.''

Brady moved up because of all of the factors that he brought to the table. And he did it almost as quickly as anybody. There was nothing "dumb'' about Tom as a kid in New England. There was nothing "tragic'' about Tom as a kid in New England.