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Tom Brady, a University of Michigan player at the time, was selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft. The New England Patriots chose the former Wolverine as the 199th pick with the intention of having him serve as Drew Bledsoe's reliable understudy.
Even the most devoted viewers are likely to have departed from watching the show by the time it got to the sixth round. As fans concentrate on evaluating the top choices that have already been presented, media attention is already slashed by half, and intrigue in the names being announced declines by this time.
Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr hesitated to start Tom Brady early in his senior season after he was the starter in his junior year. Many organizations were unwilling to take a chance because of this factor.
Brady's showing at the 'NFL Combine', where candidates are put through sprinting and passing routines, and have their physical characteristics assessed, was viewed by many as average.
The skinny, sluggish California boy set one of the poorest sprinting times. He did not resemble the muscular Titans that many contemporary quarterbacks now appear to be.
Brady was a largely unnoticed talent who had spent his first two years at Michigan as a backup quarterback throughout his undergraduate career.
In the 2000 draft, six quarterbacks were selected before Brady. Together, those six quarterbacks started 191 games and scored 258 touchdowns.
Tom Brady has done enough to show he deserved to be picked earlier
The New England Patriots saw something they valued and took a risk that other franchises did not and were required to make compromises. Although some elements of luck were involved in other sides passing on Tom Brady, the New England Patriots did not. The outcome was the most terrific draft-day bargain in NFL history.
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Following his 20 years with the Patriots, Brady continued to rule the NFL and, for extra effect, added a seventh Super Bowl victory, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And he isn't finished yet.
Brady has competed in 22 NFL seasons and was on the verge of retiring earlier this year before deciding in March to play at least one more season for the Buccaneers.
Brady wrote, "20 years ago, I was a sixth-round pick from the University of Michigan who wasn't sure he would get picked at all," in an essay for the player's tribune in 2020.
The success story of the legendary quarterback is one of the biggest examples of how a book should never be judged by its cover, at least in the field of sports.
