Drew Bledsoe retires

[stevew]

Not really suprising, although I thought he may stick around for a year or two making backup money.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2834191

[WSUCougar]

Class act and one of my favorite NFL players. I'm obviously biased due to the WSU connection, but still.

[Schmidty]

I'm old. :(

[FrogMan]

Class act and one of my favorite NFL players.

I'm old. :(

yup and yup. When I really got into following the Pats, he was the man. I still have three Bledsoe jerseys and seeing him hanging the cleats is really making me feel old this morning... :(

FM

[Draft Dodger]

I'm old. :(

my wife was born the same day he was. I'll be happy to let her know one of her peers is retiring

[JAG]

from 1993 through 2003 Bledsoe received more than $62 million in compensation, most in the league.

I wouldn't have guessed that.

[Pumpy Tudors]

my wife was born the same day he was. I'll be happy to let her know one of her peers is retiring
Can you give her a message from me?

[Draft Dodger]

Can you give her a message from me?

;)

[Dr. Sak]

As so goes one of my favorite player nicknames....Drew Beldsomuchheneededatransfusion

[beargrowlz]

Class act and one of my favorite NFL players. I'm obviously biased due to the WSU connection, but still.


Agreed.

He also helped saved football in New England, for which I am eternally greatful. The Patriots were on the verge of moving to St. Louis when bob Kraft bought the team, Bill Parcells came in as coach (he may have been hired by James Orthwein a year before) and Drew Bledsoe was drafted. Bledsoe infused the region with a spark and helped make the team a serious contender and really played some terrific football for the Pats.

But, the way he handled losing his job to Brady and the way he left New England was very classy.

Thanks for the memories Drew.



Cheers.

[Kodos]

Nice career, Drew. Except for that whole Cowboys fiasco. I'll just try to overlook it.

[rkmsuf]

Nice career, Drew. Except for that whole Cowboys fiasco. I'll just try to overlook it.

and except for that whole thing they call the playoffs

beyond that ok, you have a lot of attempts. I'll give you that.

[Coffee Warlord]

So, now that they are both out of football, who had a better career, Bledsoe or Rick Mirer? :)

[Kodos]

So, now that they are both out of football, who had a better career, Bledsoe or Rick Mirer? :)


Personally, I'm looking forward to the Leaf vs. Manning debate. :D

[Desnudo]

and except for that whole thing they call the playoffs

beyond that ok, you have a lot of attempts. I'll give you that.

He also threw a lot of TDs and INTs, usually back-to-back, which is pretty impressive.

[rkmsuf]

He also threw a lot of TDs and INTs, usually back-to-back, which is pretty impressive.

don't forget the no look over your head backwards pass

nobody has done that since bledsoe in the afc championship game

I think Aaron Brooks tried this but he did it all wrong.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

My initial thought is no Hall of Fame, but he does have pretty impressive overall numbers...

[Kodos]

He is not HOF material. A solid QB, but not an HOF guy.

[Castlerock]

...Bledsoe infused the region with a spark and helped make the team a serious contender and really played some terrific football for the Pats.

But, the way he handled losing his job to Brady and the way he left New England was very classy.


I completely agree. When he came in during the 2001 AFC championship vs the Steelers, I was cheering like crazy.

He is not HOF material. A solid QB, but not an HOF guy.

I'm a huge Bledsoe fan but he's not even close to HOF material.

[miami_fan]

So, now that they are both out of football, who had a better career, Bledsoe or Rick Mirer? :)

Not you know that just ain't fair!;)

How about comparing Mirer to the others members of the QB class of 1993?

1 1 Drew Bledsoe QB Washington State
1 2 Rick Mirer QB Notre Dame
3 58 Billy Joe Hobert QB Washington
5 118 Mark Brunell QB Washington
7 192 Gino Torretta QB Miami
8 216 Alex Van Pelt QB Pittsburgh
8 219 Elvis Grbac QB Michigan
8 222 Trent Green QB Indiana

An arguement could be made that Mirer was the 7th best QB of that class just above the reigning Heisman Winner.

(Sorry Gino but the truth hurts:D )

[Antmeister]

He is not HOF material. A solid QB, but not an HOF guy.

He should go in the HOF as being the best mentor ever. :)

[stevew]

My initial thought is no Hall of Fame, but he does have pretty impressive overall numbers...
77.1 passer rating, or the 1.25 to 1 td to INT rate. Only impressive number is the amount of passes he had to attempt through his career, his average of 36+ per game was/is(?) the record.

[molson]

I'll never forget him taking out a full page ad in both Boston papers after he was traded, just to thank the fans. He'll always be remembered fondly in Boston, but I really wish they could have won that Super Bowl against the Packers. He would have been remembered completely differently.

[rkmsuf]

I'll never forget him taking out a full page ad in both Boston papers after he was traded, just to thank the fans. He'll always be remembered fondly in Boston, but I really wish they could have won that Super Bowl against the Packers. He would have been remembered completely differently.

if those shitbirds could have tackled desmond howard they might have

[Vinatieri for Prez]

To clear things up stat wise, Bledsoe retires fifth in NFL history in pass attempts (6,717) and completions (3,839), seventh in passing yards (44,611), and 13th in touchdown passes (251).

Good numbers. Not HOF numbers. And certainly, his best numbers were in NE.

As others said, he did resurrect the franchise (along with Parcells). As time went on, he also became a pretty gutsy performer for NE, playing hurt a lot and getting pounded in the backfield but still winning games (in those days in NE, he didn't nearly as much have himself to blame for holding the balll too long as in more recent times).

One of my favorite Patriots. Good Luck Drew and thanks for the memories.

[st.cronin]

I always felt he was overrated, but he was a tough sob.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

he was a tough sob.

Yup, we both agree. Here is a recent quote from his backup Scott Zolak:

On Bledsoe playing through pain, specifically with a pin in his finger in 1998:

“I don’t think he gets enough credit for how tough he was. He would pick himself up off the ground and his chin would be split, and his head was dinged a lot. I’m sure he got more concussions than were known about. I gained a ton of respect for him the way he played with that index finger. It was a night game against the Dolphins [Nov. 23, 1998] and he threw the TD [to Shawn Jefferson] at the end that won it. And he continued to play with a half-inch pin sticking out of the index finger of his throwing hand. Anyone that has played football knows that’s the last one to come off the football. I saw him in the weeks after that taking shots so he could play and it took 4-5 people on the medical staff to hold him down, so the doctors could insert the needle into the upper joint of the index finger. It was excruciating, you’re hearing him scream. But he went out and played. Tell me who would do that?”

[beargrowlz]

Good to see the love. He's a classy, hard working guy.

[BrianD]

Personally, I'm looking forward to the Leaf vs. Manning debate. :D

When that time comes, I'll be very happy to not have any of my past opinions available around here for searching. :)

[st.cronin]

They had to hold him down just to put a little pin in his finger? Not as tough as I thought.

[cartman]

Good to see that he took the time to update his blog today:

hxxp://www.tonyhomo.com/

:D

[WSUCougar]

NFL Hall of Fame? I doubt it. My personal Hall of Guys I'd Like to Have on My Team? You betcha.

[cartman]

The NFL HoF standards are a lot looser than Cooperstown. There aren't too many players that are in the career top 10 lists in multiple stats that aren't enshrined in the Hall. I'd say he stands a better than average chance of getting in.

[MrBug708]

The NFL HoF standards are a lot looser than Cooperstown. There aren't too many players that are in the career top 10 lists in multiple stats that aren't enshrined in the Hall. I'd say he stands a better than average chance of getting in.

The NFL is less on stats and bigger on the impact you left on the game. They easily have the best HOF IMO

[JPhillips]

The NFL is less on stats and bigger on the impact you left on the game. They easily have the best HOF IMO

If by impact you mean, whether or not a reporter remembers a few highlight plays, I'll agree.

[JeeberD]

The NFL HoF standards are a lot looser than Cooperstown. There aren't too many players that are in the career top 10 lists in multiple stats that aren't enshrined in the Hall. I'd say he stands a better than average chance of getting in.

If he had managed to win a Super Bowl, I would agree with you. But since he never led his team to a win, I think it's unlikely...

[Eaglesfan27]

I see no chance for Drew to get in. See Art Monk. Good career stat compilers simply don't get players into the HOF in Football unless they have another impact, and Bledsoe never was "the top" QB in the league. That being said, I've always appreciated his abilities and personality.