Tom Brady What If

BPorter26

Growing up in the northeast in the 80's the majority of my friends were New England Patriot fans. They had some bright sunshine in 1985, but it turned into a dark, nasty storm when they met the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl. In 1996 their number one pick in '93, Drew Bledsoe, took them back to the Super Bowl. But once again we saw them lose to a young Brett Favre and the minister of defense, Reggie White, as the Packers took the Lombardi back to Green Bay.

On September 23rd, 2001, New York linebacker Mo Lewis changed the New England Patriots fortunes forever. Bledsoe was running for a first down when Mo Lewis decleated Drew into the ground and knocked him out of the game. Bill Belichick called on a second-year, 6th round draft pick, Tom Brady, to call the signals. What if Bledsoe avoided the Lewis hit and just ran out of bounds? Would Brady even get a chance? Interesting thought…

Let's look at January 27th, 2002, the Divisional Playoff game against the Oakland Raiders known as the "Snow Bowl" or the "Tuck Game."

What if the refs determined that Brady did fumble the football in which the Raiders recovered? Does Brady retain his starting quarterback status in 2002? Does Kordell Stewart lead the Steelers to the SB over the Raiders? If so, do the Steelers think about drafting a quarterback in 2004? Would Ben Roethlisberger have built his legacy in Pittsburgh? Even though Charles Woodson becomes a Hall of Famer, does he cement that sooner as a Raider instead of the Packers because the Raiders go to the Super Bowl? It's a crazy thought but I love the “What If” scenarios.

One of my closest friends, who's a diehard Patriots fan, attended tons of games in the 80's, 90 and 2000's. He happened to attend these two I just mentioned. We were talking one day, and tickets came up in our conversation. I asked him if he still had the ticket stubs to those game and sure enough, he did. They were not in the best condition but who cares it's NFL history in those stubs. He sold me the Jets game stub but wanted to keep the "Tuck Rule Game" for now. He's not a collector and doesn't have sentimental attachment to these. I told him in to keep the "Tuck Rule Game" because it was the last game, he went to with his dad who passed away a few years later. He had a special football bond with his dad.

I just got these back from PSA last week and wanted to share the results. Like I said not the best condition tickets, but still pretty damn cool. The "What If" always comes up with me and my buddy in our conversations when we talk Patriot and Steeler football.

threeofsix

Great history!!!!!