Sorry 2004 Red Sox, my all-time favorite team is the 2001 New England Patriots. Yes, they were my first championship and everyone likes an underdog story, but I love that team because they forever changed my understanding of football.

The Patriots’ 2000 season, Bill Belichik’s first as head coach, was a complete disaster. The team had no offensive weapons, one of the worst offensive lines ever, and appeared poised to return to the irrelevance of the early 90s. Draft day did little to address these needs, as Bill picked a 20-year old doorway with braces, Richard Seymour, instead of David Terrell or Kenyatta Walker or Deuce McCallister or any of the notable college players I was familiar with. I recognized a few of the free agent additions, but the group was composed of nearly washed up veterans , like Brian Cox, Roman Phifer and Terrell Buckley, a couple of first round busts, Charles Johnson and Antowain Smith, and a non-returner special teams ace, Larry Izzo. Despite this less than blockbuster offseason, I was hopefully optimistic about the 2001 season, mostly because of my blind devotion to Drew Bledsoe.

I was nine years old when the Patriots drafted Drew No. 1 overall. He was enormous, had a cannon for an arm and my dad said he was going to be a superstar. When he carried the Patriots to the playoffs the next year via an unprecedented aerial attack, he became my hero. I didn’t care that he was inaccurate at times and held on to the ball too long, he was going to lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl Championship.

My faith in Bledsoe would be tested in the first two weeks of 2001, as the offense sputtered against the lowly Bungles and was virtually anemic through three quarters against the Jets. Everything changed in an instant when Mo Lewis crushed Drew Bledsoe on the sideline late in the fourth. After the game, little was known about the extent of the injury, Bill even told reporters “(Drew) got his bell rung.” In the next few days, we all learned that Bledsoe suffered a sheared blood vessel in his chest and he was likely out for the season. Enter Tom Brady, a gawky sixth round pick who was infamously challenged by another Drew (Henson) back at Michigan. Brady had apparently impressed Bill enough in the preseason to supplant veteran Damon Huard as the backup, but he didn’t pass my eye test. Brady lacked the arm strength and pedigree of Bledsoe and I was convinced the Patriots were going to continue to lose.

Everyone knows the opposite happened and they spanked the Colts 44-13 in week 3. But Brady had a rather pedestrian game, completing 13 of 23 passes for 168 yards and no touchdowns. The next day at school it was obvious that Brady’s youth, looks and enthusiasm had captivated everyone so I became a vocal advocate for my childhood hero, Drew Bledsoe. I started to watch games more closely and poured over stats and commentary in order to prove that Drew was the superior player. Like most biased quests, I found corroborating evidence. Brady had some terrible games, especially against the Dolphins where he completed 12 of 24 passes for 86 yards. Also, he was beating bad teams early on, as his first five wins were against teams that finished the season below .500. Moreover, he ran a quarterback friendly short passing attack with lots of misdirection and screens. He looked like the prototypical “game manager” that would be exposed against good teams.

By week 10, Bledsoe was deemed healthy enough to return to action, but Bill stayed with Brady. I was extremely disappointed with the decision and felt the Pats had no chance against the best team in the

league, the St. Louis Rams. On his first series almost on cue, Brady was intercepted near his own endzone and the Rams quickly capitalized with a touchdown. But Bill designed a formidable gameplan for the greatest show on turf and the defense executed it perfectly, scoring ten points off of turnovers in the first quarter. After the defense stymied the Rams once again to start the second quarter, Brady and the Patriots embarked on a drive that inspired an epiphany. He was flawless, completing 4 of 4 passes for 48 yards, and in complete control of the offense, as the Patriots moved the ball 65-yards in 6:33. It was now obvious that precision, not arm strength, was the hallmark of a great quarterback and despite all his talent, Drew would never be able to execute at this level against a Super Bowl caliber team. Unfortunately, Antowain Smith fumbled on the 4-yard line and the Patriots ultimately lost 24-17. After the game, I was too frustrated to sleep and paced around my house, replaying the game in my mind. Once I relaxed enough to fall asleep, I knew two things: the New England Patriots were as good as any team in the league and Tom Brady was the man to lead them.

The Rams game boosted the players’ confidence as well and the Patriots would not lose again in 2001. Brady continued to have his ups and downs, but he consistently completed nearly two-thirds of his passes, something Bledsoe never did. His precision was invaluable down the stretch, as he orchestrated several game-winning drives. Bill also continued to put together spectacular gameplans, culminating in the greatest one I’ve ever seen against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. The 2001 Patriots were far from the most talented team in the league, but they won the Super Bowl because every player did the most important thing in football “their job,” including quarterback Tom Brady.