The REAL Reason the Patriots Knew Tom Brady Was Going to Be Great 

To put it in context, the patriots were the only team that actively scouted Brady including reaching out to his college coach. The patriots also had a 3rd round grade on Brady but they had just signed Bledsoe to a long term big contract and didn't need a qb. Did they know he would turn out this way? Of course not. Were they far ahead of the league in seeing his potential? Without question.

Julian is a true ride or die, someone you are lucky to have in your corner. I love how much he hypes up Tom and pokes fun at him once in a while.

If you looked at Brady’s comebacks at Michigan especially against Alabama you knew he would be great- he showed leadership, focus and tenacity.

Apparently the coaching staff and player personnel staff saw something in Brady because they took a chance and drafted him, even though it was late in the draft they still took a chance on him. Then when they started cutting down the players at training camp they kept him as the 4th QB which is something that a team hardly ever does, it’s usually the starter and then two backup QB. Arnie will tell you that Brady made himself into the Elite QB he was by hard work and dedication. All he needed was somebody to give him the opportunity to do it and the Patriots did just that.

Rest in Peace to the QB coach who had the heart issue… ❤❤

This podcast is going places 👌

Chris Eitzmann who Ernie mentioned would run routes with Brady was a good friend of mine from business school. Great person - former captain of the Harvard football team - Obviously a brilliant guy. He played 6 vs 6 and 8 vs 8 football in Nebraska in high school. Sadly he passed away in 2021. I miss you buddy.

Much love Jules. Awesome and fantastic to have a football mind like Ernie on. Badass bro❤

As a Michigan fan I knew we all knew "The Comeback Kid" was a real one. You watch that game against Alabama in the Orange Bowl, you knew he was a killer. Absolutely surgical.

“They were watching him before they were born” 😂

Remember that 99 Michigan season and Brady would come in and save UM after Henson struggled. Remember saying during the Alabama Orange Bowl that this guy is the best player on the field. Excited to see them draft him. Surprised it was that late but also was high on Michael Bishop as well

Every Patriots fan that’s old enough to have enjoyed the first 3 super bowls will know the name Dick Rehbein

The sound effect at the end scared the shit outta me 😂 turn it down lol

Rip Chris Eitzmann and Dick Rehbein

Great great perspective....what you do in the games....not how fast you run the 40

People always make fun of Brady’s lack of upper body muscle development, but he is 6’4.5” with proportionally long legs and arms. That is the standard bone structure of most MLB pitchers hitting high 90s and above, and QBs with a rocket arm. Justin Verlander doesn’t have an upper body like a Greek statue, but he is probably the last Power Pitcher that can throw a complete game Baseball will ever see……similar build to Brady……ain’t winning any Bodybuilding contest.

In many Jules draft mirrored Brady’s. He was bubble talent that was never ever in a million years going to be a qb in the league. Pats wanted him and saw him as an analogue to welker who was becoming an expensive cuncussion case, but integral. They knew Jules was going to be there late like they knew Brady was and they knew where he was going to fit in the team long term. Belichick was an absolute G in the draft and he gets a terrible rep for picks that never panned out.

The entire story when you aren't watching just clips is the Patriots had a very strict parcells style requirement, brady and another qb was on the board no one else was. Ernie saw he was going to he a free agent and pushed bill to get him in the 6th instead of risking it Ernie saw his mental make up, his games and knew he brady was going to be good. Thry were thinkng of ttading him off after debeloping him and showing him in 2 years of preseason to pick up a 2-4 rounder. The patriots did this exact thing except not wity brady for 20 years. Ernie set up the system to create a series of good qba based off tom wolf and walshs style.

this gave me chills!!!! love it!!!

Michigan v Alabama bowl game was epic. Shaun Alexander and a very explosive Tide team against Anthony Thomas and Brady led Wolverines squad. Was back and forth all game, Michigan ended up on top at the very end. Brady was brilliant.

For me, the most important thing Ernie said in this entire segment was "I always felt if someone was going to stay out late after practice then someone should HONOR HIM and stay and watch him!" He then said there wasn't a chance that Tom was going to get in and play. This simple act is so powerful. It tells his player I appreciate your efforts and I will support them AND YOU MATTER! No he wasn't going to play but that didn't matter to Ernie. He felt a players extra EFFORT should be recognized and appreciated regardless of how goof he was. In some respects, that is the essence of the Patriot way. Focus on your effort, celebrate effort , practice smart and EVERYONE MATTERS!

Center Piece = Water, tomatoes from the vine, a couple of coffee's and a football. Make's perfect sense

it's funny to hear this in comparison to Belichicks reaction to Manti Te'o at the combine

Tom the GOAT. Tom as a commentator is going to be incredible. Fox locked him down on that one I think.

Yeah, they knew .. thats why he was picked 199th

People forget Brady won the Rose Bowl and lead a team that was nationally ranked, and played a tough division the Big Ten. He also beat out Brien Greise and Drew Henson, a couple of very very good QBs, 5-star recruits.

dick rehbein championed brady. he deserves most of the praise for finding and pushing for him. rest in peace.

What is crazy about this story is that both Dick Rehbein & Chris Eitzmann have both passed away

I think a lot of the commenters saying "they didn't know" are missing two points: 1. In the video, Ernie doesn't say they knew Brady would be great before drafting him, he says he knew when he saw the work he put in after practice. 2. It was a different league in 2000. Quarterbacks weren't flying off the board. And the Patriots already had a top-tier starter in Bledsoe. They were not in search of a QB, and no matter how good a prospect looks, there are no guarantees, only probabilities. Draft picks are functions of expected value, including starting probability. This value is obviously lower with Bledsoe in your lineup, rather than, say, Jeff Garcia.

Brady was drafted in the 6th round. None of the teams saw that much when he came out of college. I do not doubt that once he got to the Pats, they found out what they had.

The geniuses in Michigan platooned him with Drew Henson.

"they've been watching him since before they were born"

Love both of these Men

For those wondering about the tomatoes Ernie was famous, or infamous, for sitting by himself in the cafeteria eating a tomato for lunch. LOL Truly a mad genius.

This is part of the reason why I believe JJ McCarthy is going to be successful. He has the same work ethic. But people only want to look at the stats and not account for the fact that they were a run first offense. Had he been on another team that was more pass focused people would rank him higher.

Everything Ernie just said about the process: apply that to Brock Purdy. Am I saying Ourdy = Brady? No. I said, take everything Ernie talked about and apply it to Brock. That's it. It is up to you to come to conclusions.

They did not know. It’s a hit or miss on QBs!

Jules get Brady on but also try and get Drake Maye on

They were hoping he'd be a decent backup. They're lying if they thought he'd be great.

"if someone puts in extra effort i should honor him by going and watching".

The Brady pick should be have its own doc with the years building up to it and the genuis of the pats and 49ers scouting teams. Both were incredibly thorough and picked up on his inconsistent prescence at Michigan. Poured over his film, didn’t listen to naysayers or combine grades back when it was blasphemy to not rate the combine evals highly. Mancini and belichick both had Brady rated as a second round pick. Mangini so much that he all but rolled out the red carpet for Brady. When they picked a different guy early they didn’t have the option to get Brady and bellichick now the opportunity of a lifetime on the table to get the best value backup in nfl history. Instead of blowing a second round pick he listened to the reports and knew no one had qb needs high enough to burn a pick on a passer over an extra running back. He was patient and knew he would be where he was. That’s what happened in truth.

"They had been watching him since before they were born". Lol

Love the beefsteak tomato centerpiece

It's never enough that they won. Everyone needs to know how smart the mgmt was. Same mgmt went 29-38 without the GOAT.

They new he was gonna be available still. Needed to use the higher picks for those that would go quick

Nobody knew Brady was going to be good... that's why he was drafter in the 6th round

Where can i watch the full video of the entire podcast😢

they didn't or they would have drafted him much much earlier. they took a chance on a longshot and won the lottery. that's the truth.

Ach shut up, u picked him 199 because u thought he was good value. This is CRAZY levels of hindside bias.

Nobody knew what they had in him because they drafted him with the 199 pick. If they knew he was the future Goat 🐐, NE would not resigned Bledsoe to a new deal. I think Bill went with Tom over Drew because Tom was probably more coachable and fit the offensive system he wanted to run. Drew was like a Mario who probably wanted to pass the ball more, which led to turnovers. Plus with Drew, he was a veteran who was loved by the owner and fans, so he could push back against Bill since his first season with the Patriots was 5 - 11. The Jets changed the fortunes of the Patriots and the league by knocking out Bledsoe. Once Tom got on the field, he was able to execute the offense more efficiently than Drew with less interceptions. One thing that is extremely interesting with Bill and Tom is Bill kept four quarterbacks Tom’s rookie season. That never happens in football. I think once the team drafted him and realized what they had, they were not willing to risk him going on the practice squad. I think another thing that made Tom the Goat was his experience at Michigan. When it was his turn to start, the coach kept putting in a younger player who had a higher ceiling than Tom, but couldn’t play quarterback. I think that motivated Tom to work even harder…which is pretty scary 🫣

Oh. So if they do good in the games they’ll be a good player. Cool insight

I believe they had no idea what they were in for.

They didn't scout Brady, and Rehbein wasn't theirs. Bobby Grier scouted Brady, he was the director of player personnel and Rehbein was his head scout. Belichick, Pioli and Adams didnt even get hired until after the '99 season was over, so how'd they scout Tom? They were with the Jets, they'd have no information on what the Pat's were scouting until they were in the building. They simply followed the board Bobby built and watched tape on the players to concur. That's why Ernie didn't really answer the question.

2:40 David Beckham admits to having OCD, so does Rafa Nadal. The results speak for themselves. [I've always been a free spirit, by contrast, sitting in the shade under a tree with a blade of grass in my mouth. Looking for patterns in the clouds. Never made it to the NFL for some reason.]

RIP Dick Rehbein

Who is being interviewed? What was his role? Who is Arnie? Last name? History with the team?

They picked him in the 6th round. The way they take credit for this is wild.

I’m listening to what is being said about Tom when he was up and coming. But isn’t this the type of attitude all athletes should have when trying to make it big?

I would've believed this is true if the Patriots drafted Tom Brady in the 1st round

They obviously didnt think he was gonna be great, otherwise they wouldnt have taken him in the 6th round

What's with the bowl of tomatoes?

Jules what's up with the bowl of tomato?

They didn't know shit. They had him benched lol

The Patriots drafted some guys named Dave Stachelski and Jeff Marriott before taking Brady. I’d respect the Patriots more if they just admitted they had no clue he’d end up being anything. They took a flyer hoping Brady would end up being a good backup, nothing more. They got lucky.

Im still saying if he wouldn't had went to new England he wouldn't even be a below average at best qb and out of the league in less then 3 years like most late picks back then

jj mcarhty goes in 1st round and TB in the 5th..hmmmm

Bad angle for Erin’s. Y’all doing him wrong.

What is wrong with this guys couch? Who thought that was a good idea? Is that guy sitting on an afghan? That was, like, knitted?

If anyone knew…. he’s not 199. so stop pretending you all saw the future.

ha ya now they are all patting themselves on the back and saying they always knew.

Nobody knew Brady was going to be great. If they did he wouldn't have gone in the 6th round.

Scout had a heart attack. nope. they ALL simply overlooked Brady.

What’s up with the tomatoes?

And he still wasn’t good enough for bunchen

What a stupid title. If they new he was going to be great he never would have been a late round pick

The guy that made a career from spying and stealing plays, and a roid head 🤣🤣🤣 Two cheaters

Oh sure, they knew he'd be great...that's why they picked him up in the last round of the draft.... They got lucky and don't want to admit it.

I saw the title of this and imm said HORSESHIT lifelong PATS fan here...IF THEY KNEW HE WAS GOING TO BE what he became or even just a fraction of it they wouldnt have waited until the 6th GFTO LOL.

Patrick goat nfl player mahomes!

🖤🛡️⚔️

Based on Ernie's assessment, Michael Penis jr should be drafted #1 overall. Even without Ernie's assessment, Penix should be drafted #1!

Did Tom make Bill or did Bill make Tom? Brady's super bowl win in Tamap would suggest the former. Who gets credit?

0:10 WHITE 👁👁 BLINK BLINK , fba REPARATIONS REPARATIONS

Disney is trash......yuck

Amazing. This is the exact thing everybody ignores about Tom. Kobe is always praised for it but not Tom. It’s the same mentality. It’s what makes Tom better than Rogers, Manning, Maholmes etc. Clearly those guys throw a sweet ball but they lack the dedication & drive to elevate everyone around theme. Tom pulled people off the scrap heap, turned them into stars & willed them into Super Bowl rings. Brady is a unicorn. We’ll never see anything like him again

I’m surprised Bill allowed this.