New England Patriots star Tom Brady never feared being cut his rookie season, despite the competition at quarterback. He also said he wouldn't be the future Hall of Famer he is today if he didn't sit out his rookie season, NESN.com reports.
Brady's rise to an elite quarterback is common NFL lore at this point. The sixth round, No. 199 pick of the 2000 draft was a long shot to become one of the greatest NFL signal callers ever, let alone start. Yet, despite three other quarterbacks on the roster - Drew Bledsoe, Michael Bishop and John Friesz - Brady never worried about being cut.
"I don't know why I didn't think that way," Brady said on WEEI radio, via NESN.com. "Looking back on the situation now, I would say that maybe I should have been a little worried. No one ever keeps four quarterbacks, but coach [Bill] Belichick, he decided to stick with me."
Brady appeared in only one game during his rookie campaign, where he completed 1-of-3 passes for six yards. In an age when rookie quarterbacks are expected to start right away, Brady credits riding the bench his first year as being essential to his current success.
"I was lucky to really have a chance that whole first year to be in a situation where I wasn't forced to play and lose a bunch of confidence," Brady said. "I wasn't prepared to play my first year. That's all that would have happened, I would've gone out and get beat and lost a ton of confidence in what I was doing. I was able to sit there, watch, learn, grow, grow into my body a little bit, improve my throwing mechanics and then my second year I went in there really competing for the backup job and ended up winning it."
In Week 2 of the following season, Brady went in for an injured Bledsoe and hasn't looked back since.
