[stadium crowd cheering]
[announcer] All right. With seven seconds remaining,
and Adam Vinatieri will try to win it with a 47-yard field goal attempt.
[fans cheering]
Set to go. Snap, ball down, kick up.
Kick is on the way, and it is good! It's good!
The Patriots are Super Bowl champions.
["Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie playing]
[reporter] Call it destiny, call it whatever you want,
but you have to call the New England Patriots
the unlikely champions of the football world.
[announcer] Looks good!
And the New England Patriots will be the first dynasty of the 21st century.
[reporter 2] This team will be celebrated, scrutinized
for as long as the game of football is played.
[song fades, echoing]
[Scott Pioli] This game is like a narcotic.
[thunder rumbling]
You would do anything and everything to stop the fear of losing.
Anything.
[newscaster] Breaking news right now.
New England was caught cheating, and it's a black mark on their success.
This scandal over footballs will not go away.
[commentator] That team lived long enough and won enough to become the villain.
[announcer] And down he goes again.
[commentator 2] If they lose this Super Bowl,
everybody's gonna be talking about,
"Yeah, that's what happens when you're forced to play fair."
[announcer] Touchdown!
The dynasty continues.
[announcer 2] Don't ever count Tom Brady out.
[commentator 3] Bill Belichick's painted his Mona Lisa.
[pundit] But with two egos and personalities and accomplishments
at that level,
a collision was inevitable.
[pundit 2] Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are not on the same page.
[pundit 3] Know what it seems like to me? It's a turf battle.
There's gonna be some things that aren't fucking great.
[Adam Vinatieri] You know, we worked for Bill, but we played for Tom.
[Robert Kraft] We were coming near the end,
and I was just trying to hold it together the best I could.
[pundit 4] Am I fucking Johnny Foxborough?
[pundit 5] He's unhappy. You leave when you're unhappy.
[pundit 6] The dynasty is over.
I'm not gonna allow other people to take away from something so special.
It's perfect.
It doesn't need to be more than that.
["Under Pressure" resumes]
[Bill Belichick] How do you make history?
You win.
Not twice, you win again and again.
Everything you do every day is about winning.
[crowd roaring]
[shouting, indistinct]
[commentator] Enjoy it, folks. You're never ever going to see it again.
[cheering]
[train clattering]
[cameras clicking]
All right, tell you what, let's go right to the podium.
Bob Kraft is up there right now with James Busch Orthwein.
Let's listen to their announcement.
[camera shutters clicking]
Thank you all for, uh, coming, I appreciate it.
It's now my pleasure to introduce the man
who'll become the next owner of the New England Patriots.
Robert Kraft.
[applause]
Some people think it's silly to spend so much money just for a game.
But my objective is to help bring a championship to New England.
[cheering]
[stadium announcer] Let's welcome your New England Patriots!
[Kraft] We're a region that stresses family values.
We're gonna do it this year!
- [Kraft] Traditions. - [laughing]
This is my home town, and this game,
it really impacts the psyche and the fabric of the community.
- Mr. Kraft, how are you? - Good, and you?
- Good, thank you. - You take good care.
- We're gonna get them, right? - Well, we've been waiting.
When we bought the team, I remember saying to myself,
"Wow, pressure's really on."
'Cause you have to understand Boston fans. They're nuts about sports.
They didn't expect this amount of people here today, you know.
But it's gonna be an exciting year. Everybody's pumped up.
[Tommy Guarino] In New England, there's three things that are guaranteed here.
Death, taxes, and being a Boston sports fan.
Or you're, you know, ostracized, kicked out of here.
Yeah, baby!
- This is Patriots country! - Yeah.
[Keith Birchall] Growing up in Boston, you know, when you lose a pacifier,
you then get your yelling voice.
Come on now, here we go!
[Birchall] And as Patriots fans, there's been a lot of yelling.
Because what people don't realize,
the Patriots haven't been good for many, many, many years.
[announcer] And a high snap goes into the end zone for a safety.
And you see already heads beginning to drop on the Patriots' side.
The old Patriots, like, they shouldn't even be in the league.
Like, that's how I felt.
I get sick to my stomach when I look back, because of the pain.
Play some defense out there. Send the cheerleaders out to play for you.
[Tony Lapolito] It was very disappointing, but we hadn't lost hope.
Because we had Drew Bledsoe, the All-American quarterback.
[commentator] Nice numbers for Drew, in a season
that has been anything but nice for the New England Patriots.
- Bledsoe's number one. - Drew! Drew! Drew!
[Lapolito] He was our boy, he was our savior.
He was tall, he was handsome. Drew Bledsoe was the whole package.
Whoa, hey, guys, those McDonald's Big Macs you got there?
That's right there, Future Hall of Fame face.
- Can I have one? - That's not gonna happen, Signal Boy.
- No way there, Larry Longarm. - Come on, we can...
[Clifford Bonnet] Drew was good, man.
He had a cannon for an arm, and just put the ball where it needed to go.
[announcer] Bledsoe with that lightning arm,
fires it, he's got a man for a touchdown.
[Kraft] I realized he was the man to carry us forward.
And I gave him a hundred million dollar contract
to be the face of the franchise.
[Drew Bledsoe] You know, as a quarterback I'm gonna be judged
by how many games we win, and I'm going to do everything that I can
to bring a championship to New England this year.
We're all rooting for that, but if it doesn't happen this coming year,
please God, it'll happen soon hereafter.
[laughing]
[Kraft] I tried to give our fans hope,
but sometimes there are things that come up
that you just can't plan for.
[crowd chanting] USA! USA! USA! USA!
[crowd roaring]
[stadium announcer] Now ladies and gentlemen...
please join together in a moment of silence
for the victims of September 11th.
[man, faintly] Take your hats off!
[Kraft] Coming into the 2001 season,
the weight of 9/11 affected everyone.
I really believed that football
would play a great role in the healing of the country.
[stadium announcer] Thank you.
[crowd murmuring, cheering]
New Englanders or Bostonians needed hope more than ever before.
So I was depending on Drew to deliver.
[Dick Enberg] And welcome back. The Jets leading in this low scoring game
in New England, 10-3.
It's been a very emotional day around the country,
as National Football League action has resumed.
[Dan Dierdorf] Well, for the New England Patriots,
after a five and eleven season last year,
desperately this franchise seeks to find success.
[Bledsoe] Let's go now, we got to put one in the zone.
[player] Let's go get it.
[Dierdorf] Still I think another year in New England,
where the success of this team
is gonna have to be on the right arm of Drew Bledsoe.
[crowd] Drew! Drew! Drew! Drew! Drew!
[Bledsoe] When you're part of a team, the team is bigger than you are.
But my personal responsibility within that had always been to be the man.
[chuckles] I was the guy, right? I was the quarterback.
I was the franchise guy, I was the face.
You know, all of these things that had always been my piece of that team.
[Bledsoe, on field] Get in the huddle.
Let's put this damn thing in. We're going on two, set in.
[Bledsoe] In that game, we were playing the Jets, and we were behind.
But I just remember feeling like, "Okay, cool, it's my time."
That was at my best, I think, when things were a little sideways
and what other people would maybe call pressure situations,
that's when I was able to focus.
[interviewer] Yeah, I feel like I've heard the same thing from Jordan, from Tiger,
- from all these people. - Mmm, yeah.
Yeah, most people put me in around Jordan, Tiger, Drew.
You know, yeah, same thing. [laughs]
Hut, hut!
- [crowd cheering] - [Dierdorf] Bledsoe. Gonna run it.
- [Bledsoe grunts] - [crowd groaning]
[whistles blowing faintly]
[voices echoing, overlapping]
[noise fades]
[whistle blowing faintly]
[Kraft] You know, it's hard to explain how terrible that was.
There'd never been a time in my life,
I mean, to feel the negativity of 9/11.
And then our starting first class quarterback.
The hope of the fans goes down.
That was really scary.
You know, he... was like a son to me.
[Ty Law] Our team was shocked. Because that was the face of the team.
That was our leader.
That was a hundred-million-dollar quarterback.
And he's down.
[man] Bledsoe was just wheeled out on a stretcher.
[siren wailing]
[Dr. David Berger] When Drew Bledsoe came to the emergency room,
I had grave concerns.
He had partially cut one of his arteries.
So we saw that the lung cavity was completely filling up with blood.
Untreated, he probably would have died.
[Kraft] Seeing him in that hospital bed, that was brutal.
This quarterback who we love might not ever recover.
And he had done that working for us,
so I also felt a tremendous responsibility to his family.
I don't remember a lot of it, because I was so out of it, just with,
...you know, the shock of it.
[clock ticking]
I just-- I remember getting away for a moment by myself.
And I just started bawling, because I was like, "I feel so helpless."
What... what if something happens? What if, yeah, I--
It was very surreal, to be honest with you.
This injury was a little more serious than we all thought
- as we watched the game yesterday. - That's right, Mike.
In fact, he felt his chest tighten so much that he told family members
that it was the most intense pain he ever felt.
Gets to the hospital, has a significant amount of blood,
maybe as much as two pints, drained from the lung.
When I woke up, didn't really know what was going on,
but I looked down and I had a tube in my chest. Um...
I just remember thinking, "Well, that's not good."
[dry chuckle] You know.
But I just remember, like, "Okay, well,
you know, hopefully the team can, you know, hold the fort down,
you know, until I'm healthy and can get back in there."
[commentator] Just when you think it can't get any worse,
0 and 2 after a couple of dismal performances,
they lose their franchise quarterback.
Bledsoe was taken off on a stretcher after the game.
Who knows the extent of the injury right now?
[commentator 2] Do you think Drew's gone for the season at this point?
[commentator] Well not yet, but it does not look good.
The Pats will look to 24-year-old Tom Brady,
making his first ever NFL start at quarterback.
[commentator 3] Let me tell you something, the spotlight's gonna be on this guy.
Let's see if he can produce.
[Brady] I was the back up quarterback.
So, coach came over and was like,
"Okay, Drew's out, Tom you're in.
You better get ready to go."
I did everything I could do to get ready.
And I really approached practice like it was the game.
I was like, "I'm not taking anything for chance."
Because, you know, for Coach Belichick, you're in for this week.
In pro football, nobody's entitled to anything, nobody gets anything.
You have to go out there and work for it,
and perform at a level at which you earn it.
Each week, we all have to prove ourselves competitively
to each other and to our teammates.
[Damien Woody] There was a lot of uneasiness.
Drew's hurt, your hundred-million-dollar quarterback is down.
Morale is low.
And Tom gives a speech to the team.
Basically saying, like, "Believe in me.
Let's get it together.
I'm gonna work my ass off. You're gonna work your ass off.
We got it. We got this."
But for him to really come out and say that, takes a lot of balls.
[whistle blows]
[Woody] Because remember, trust is earned.
What has he done really to earn that?
Imagine saying that to the Willie McGinests
and the Tedy Bruschi-- like, all these veterans.
[Tedy Bruschi] Tom gathered us around and, like, I remember thinking,
"Oh, look at the kid. He's trying." Yeah.
[laughs]
- [blows whistle] - Here we go, offense red area.
Seven on seven.
[Bruschi] For anyone that says, "Oh, yeah, we knew Tom was gonna lead us to victory."
That's bullshit. I mean, come on.
This guy's never done anything for us before.
[Belichick] I can't stand it. Run it again.
Huddle up and run it again, Brady.
[Bruschi] From that first practice on, it's like,
"Okay, can you run the huddle? Can you grasp the offense?"
He didn't know what he was doing at times.
- Shit. - [blows whistle]
Here we go. Defense.
[man] Hey, listen. This is where we win the game.
Okay, let's get ready, man. Let's get ready.
[Willie McGinest] At that time, the defense pretty much ran the team.
We were the foundation.
I remember corralling the defense and like,
"Look, next week, we can't give up points. We just can't.
And as soon as the ball gets snapped, the first play of the game,
we're gonna hit somebody in the fucking mouth."
It's fucking go time.
[announcer] And he is leveled.
- Hell yeah! - Almost took his head off.
That's what we talkin' about! That's what we talkin' about!
Let's shut this shit down.
- [grunts] - [crowd cheering]
Whoo-hoo!
[announcer] Manning. Intercepted!
Otis Smith!
Smith with running room.
Smith runs it in.
Touchdown, New England!
[Lawyer Milloy] We were the same defense as last week,
but we looked and felt different.
Sometimes it takes tragedy to bring a community together.
A team together.
As bad as the Drew Bledsoe situation was,
it forced the defense to step up and play as one.
[Mike] How impressed are you with this Patriots defense?
Well, they came out very emotional.
You could just tell the difference right from the get-go.
They're fired up. Now they've gotta get the offense rolling.
Hey, let's go. Let's go, O!
Whenever you're trying to develop a quarterback, you got him on a leash.
And they gotta earn the right to kinda give you more slack on that leash.
Tom, he hasn't arrived. He's not there yet.
And so we weren't gonna deviate from the running game.
[announcer] Pitch. Antowain Smith with the running room.
Smith down the sideline!
Down inside the ten!
[Belichick] Tom was making the plays that he needed to make.
And most importantly, not putting the team in jeopardy and turning the ball over.
[announcer] They give it to Smith. He gets an opening.
Touchdown, New England!
First start for Tom Brady. First win for Tom Brady.
[Brady] You know, we kicked their ass.
We didn't kick their ass because I was some stellar quarterback.
We kicked their ass because our defense played great,
and we could run the ball.
They didn't try to put too much on him, he didn't put too much on himself,
because he wasn't that Tom.
You know.
He wasn't Tom Brady, the GOAT.
He's just Tom.
[camera clicking]
[Law] Back then, he damn sure ain't gonna wow you when he take off his shirt.
[chuckles] At all.
When you looked at him, it's like, okay.
He came in as a goddamn nobody rookie.
[air horn blows]
[David Nugent] I remember my first impression of him was, man, he was slow.
Just awkward looking, like a baby giraffe running around.
So, nothing physically stood out about Tom.
Tom and me, we came into the NFL together.
We're just rookies, you know, the lowest on the totem pole,
so we became very close because we were preparing with each other
every single day,
trying to earn the right to be there.
All right, let's go, line it up.
Get eleven-- Get eleven in there.
[Nugent] So, during training camp, Tom didn't get a whole lot of snaps.
He was our fourth string quarterback.
And in that moment, if I'm being fully honest,
I didn't think he had a good chance.
Okay, Tom, you're in. Let's go.
[Bledsoe] Oh, he was like, he was like an eager little puppy.
From the minute he got there, he was always super positive and upbeat.
Sometimes even annoyingly so.
And so we would prank him a little bit.
It was sort of a rite of passage.
[interviewer] What were a couple of the pranks that you played on the puppy?
[laughs]
Well, so, FBI,
if they think there's gonna be a bank robbery,
they have this special dye that you can't see.
And so, they'll put it on the money.
And you can't see it at all, until it gets slightly wet.
So, just a little perspiration on your hands.
Then, it's permanent.
So, we were able to lay our hands on some of this FBI stuff,
and we filled Tommy's socks full of it.
He goes out to practice. His feet sweat.
And he comes back in and his feet are bright purple for weeks.
[teammate] I don't know who it was, but I ain't gonna tell.
[laughter]
All my teammates, they helped me grow up.
I went in there as a little punk-ass kid, and they brought me into their squad.
[Bledsoe] You know, it was like, "Hey, this guy's just a rookie.
We're gonna treat you like shit for a year and then you're on the other side of it."
He was never a threat, all right?
This was not the guy that I was worried about.
[Nugent on videotape] Well, this is my hotel,
and this is where I've stayed the past couple months.
[Nugent] The Patriots put all the rookies
in a fabulous location called the End Zone Motel.
And it was a truck stop.
[Nugent on videotape] This is my scenic view...
...of a truck and a dumpster.
Yep, it's been a lot of fun.
[Nugent] I couldn't believe that this was the NFL, you know.
I was excited to get out of there.
And so, when I found out about making the team,
I'm sitting there thinking, "Okay, I've gotta find a place to live now."
And I got a knock on the door, and it was Brady.
And he comes in, and he sits down on the bed, and said,
"I just wanna tell you, I made the team."
I'm like, "Man, you did? That's great. I just made the team too."
And he said, "Listen, I just bought a condo from Ty Law.
Would you be interested in living with me?"
[Nugent on videotape] There's the stud right there.
The stud. The baddest man on the planet. As Tyson would say.
[Nugent on videotape] That's the owner of this palace.
[Law] When I sold that to Tom, I knew that he wasn't making no money at the time.
So I'm thinking, "I gotta keep on passing down to the young boys."
You know, they ain't making it. They just trying to hold on.
I left the furniture, the mattresses, everything.
[Nugent on videotape] Back here, we have our pimp setup.
It was Ty Law's previous home, and he had it all tricked out.
It was like MTV Cribs.
[Nugent on videotape] And the best part is over here.
[Law] I finished the basement out real nice, had the TV set up.
Weren't no flat screens then, but it looked like a flat screen.
You know, you had that big boob TV sitting in the wall,
but you know, I laid it out right.
Put it this way, I left 150 grand on the table.
That's why I'm gonna call him now when we done, because I mean,
yeah, that's 150 grand, man.
Tom owes me 150,000 dollars.
He's full of shit.
Ty fleeced me.
And then Ty thinks, "I've given you some big gift."
I'm like, "Ty, I overpaid."
I love Ty to death, but no, you didn't give me a fucking deal, Ty.
Get that shit out of here.
[Nugent on videotape] This is Tom's room.
[Brady on videotape] This is a love shack.
Just kidding, Mom. It's not.
[Nugent on videotape] There's me about to knock him on his ass.
[Brady on videotape] I believe that was a completion.
[Nugent on videotape] A completion of me hitting him.
[Nugent] Him being at Michigan and me being at Purdue,
we certainly played against each other in college.
And when we became roommates, we always found ways to compete.
That's the first time that I really saw
the crazy competitive monster that comes out.
I remember one day, he went out and bought the old Nintendo system at a pawnshop.
And we weren't big gamers,
but there was one game in particular, Tecmo Bowl.
[beeping]
We would play that silly game the entire weekend.
And whoever would win the tournament by the end of the weekend
was declared house champ.
We would always have a penalty for the loser.
If it was in the summertime,
whoever lost would have to do dishes all weekend.
If it was in the winter,
whoever lost would have to do a naked lap around the cove.
[Nugent on videotape] It's cold outside too.
If he was losing that game,
he went from zero to 100 very quickly.
I mean, he became a different person.
[computer voice] Ready, down. Hut, hut.
[Nugent] He did not want to lose.
[computer voice] Touchdown.
And he found out that if you stomp on the floor hard enough
it would restart the system.
So, if he knew he was about to lose, he wouldn't accept that,
and he would just stomp on the floor, start the game over.
This happened over and over again.
We had dents in our wall from him just taking the controller
and just launching it as hard as he could into the wall.
He was just like a crazy man.
I do have a bit of a temper.
I didn't like to lose, and I didn't like losing in Tecmo Bowl.
I didn't like losing in darts.
I didn't like losing period, I still don't like losing.
If I'm gonna play, I'm gonna play to win.
- [whistle blowing] - [indistinct chatter]
[Nugent] And when it came to football,
he took it to this whole 'nother level that I had never seen before.
I mean, he was the back up, to the back up, to the back up.
But he wanted to be the starter.
You know, Tom told me, "When my moment comes,
I'm gonna be ready for it."
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] Great catch of the ball from Brown.
And a first down for New England, inside the 30.
[announcer 2] Chargers leading the Pats here in the fourth quarter.
There is no Drew Bledsoe to come here and save the day.
It's all on the right arm of Tom Brady.
[announcer] Bootleg. Brady throwing. Wide open! Touchdown!
New England pulls it out.
A come-from-behind effort in the fourth.
We saw Tom Brady grow up before our eyes
and the 60,000 plus here at Foxboro.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Today Tom Brady and the Patriots were pretty damn good.
We all saw the same thing, a different team with an attitude
not seen around here in a long, long time.
Tomorrow, it's gonna develop into one of those, you know,
Brady versus Bledsoe thing. They're already talking about it.
Why are you trying to start a quarterback controversy?
I'm not, actually--
- Yeah, you are. I agree with him. - Yeah, you are.
- You were acting as a... provocateur. - Right, that's right.
- Bledsoe is the starting quarterback. - That's what you're doing.
- TV hosting. Or talk show hosting. - Is there something wrong with that?
- I'm answering a question he asked you. - No, no, here's the deal.
So, just say, "I was just trying to be an agitator
because it's good television." That's the answer.
That's the answer, Bob. There's no other answer.
Because you know in your heart,
unless you really have lost it all upstairs,
there is no issue, that Bledsoe's the quarterback the second he's ready to play.
And you know what? Tom Brady knows that.
- Yeah. - Brady knows that.
Well I think, you know, I have been the starter, so...
[Law] After that game, we knew he was capable.
But still, he's not Drew.
- How about that? Typical. - [interviewer] Is that business as usual?
Typical Lawyer Milloy right there.
[Law] I remember, myself, Tom and Lawyer Milloy.
We all went out to dinner together, and Tom, he just said,
"Hey." Out of nowhere, "I ain't giving this shit back."
That was it, he said, "I ain't giving this shit back."
So, you know, me and Lawyer on the other end, we like,
"Okay, all right, young buck. That's the spirit." [laughs]
All right. That's, that's the spirit, kid. All right, all right. We hear you.
Man, we-- Me and Lawyer looked at each other and we, we said, like,
"Shit. When Drew come back, his ass back on the bench."
In the back of our mind we're probably like, "Man, shut the fuck up,"
like, you know what I mean, "This is Drew's team."
This is the NFL, buddy.
You going back to the bench.
Good afternoon, I'm Doctor Zarins, I'm the team physician for the Patriots.
The news today is that, uh... we're clearing Drew to play.
And we know that this is gonna raise questions.
[reporter] How ready do you feel to, to play?
Physically? Mentally? Everything.
I'm itching to get back in. I-- You know, I, uh... uh...
You know, I feel healthy.
You know, from the time I was a rookie, I've been the starter on the team,
and... I anticipate being the starter on the team again.
[reporter] Thank you, guys. Drew, thank you very much.
[Bledsoe] I was on the way back from the hospital,
and I remember I called Belichick,
I was like, "Hey, I got clearance. Ready to go."
His response was like, "Okay, well, just get back here and we'll see how it goes."
I thought he would be a little more excited that I got clearance
than he seemed to be on the phone.
[whistle blows]
That was the first indication I had that, "Oh, maybe this isn't playing out
where I just get to go back and start playing again."
[Belichick] You know, Drew has several steps that he has to take
on the way back from a-- you know, a lengthy injury.
This one's been seven weeks,
and... he's taken some of those and there's still some more to take,
and we'll evaluate the progress as it... as we go along.
[reporter] So, at this point, Tom's the starting quarterback?
Tom will get the majority of the reps with the offense as he has been doing.
We expect Tom to start this Sunday against Saint Louis, right.
[Michael Holley] When Bill Belichick made that decision,
I think people in the media, we were surprised.
I mean, it's Drew Bledsoe, it's the franchise quarterback.
Everybody's just waiting for him to come back.
And then when he's ready, he gets his job back.
That's what was expected.
[reporter 2] This is gonna be talked about for the next few weeks, this decision.
- You think so? - I think it might be.
- All right. - [laughter]
[Jackie MacMullan] The unwritten rule of thumb was always,
if a player gets hurt, he can't lose his job.
Especially if you're Drew Bledsoe, the starting quarterback for the Patriots.
I think everybody just assumed when he came back, it was his job again.
[Belichick] I mean, look, Drew hadn't played in several weeks.
And Tom, he had played the previous however many games it was.
Tom was at that point in time
the most accomplished in running our offense.
[indistinct chatter]
[interviewer] Just your thoughts on the announcement Coach Belichick made.
Are you hurt, frustrated, or how do you feel?
[bitter chuckle] Next question.
[interviewer 2] You been given any idea of what would have to happen
- for this situation to change? - No.
[interviewer 3] In any way, did you see this coming, Drew?
Um, I'll just put it this way,
I look forward to the chance to compete for my job.
All right guys, that's all I got for you today.
- Thank you, Drew. Appreciate it. - Thank you, Drew.
[Bledsoe] That was a hard moment.
I remember telling Maura that, you know,
"They're gonna let Tom keep playing.
I don't know what I'm gonna do. Should we just retire?
You know, screw these guys."
[Maura Bledsoe] I was angry.
The Patriots brought him in at 21 years old.
And he had built this team, this franchise.
For this one hit to change everything.
I don't know, I was just seeing there's no loyalty.
[Kraft] When Drew was cleared medically, and Bill didn't put him back...
I didn't feel good about it.
And I felt that Drew was treated unfairly.
[Jonathan Kraft] People who have been loyal to us are like family.
And Drew really was like a fifth son to my dad.
And I watched him agonize over this whole thing with Drew.
My dad could only imagine how that was eating Drew up inside,
and he had so much personal affection for him,
it made it doubly difficult.
[Robert Kraft] Drew came to see me,
and we had a long chat and I said, "I'm gonna talk with Bill."
[Pioli] As coaches, we knew that that was gonna be a difficult conversation.
The relationship between Drew and the Krafts was very close.
I mean, Drew was a big part of saving that franchise.
He was the hope of not only of the fans, the franchise, the Krafts, right?
They had made this huge investment.
So to Robert, this was more than just a player move.
[whistle blows]
He expressed his disappointment, but in the end he said,
"Listen, if this is what you guys believe,
if this is the way it's gonna be, it just needs to be right."
[Kraft] I came back and met with Drew in my office,
and I said, "Look, Drew, I could tell him that I want you to start.
If that's not what he wants to do, that's not in your or my best interest."
If nothing else he can mess it up, and I can hold him accountable.
[Pioli] We knew that we were gonna be held accountable.
And I remember saying to Bill, "We need to be careful.
Because of what Drew's given to this organization,
what he's given to this fan base, the hope that he has given so many people.
If we don't handle this right, we've seen that movie before."
So, help yourself there.
I'm not a coffee man, so I don't... know how to make it.
[Pioli] Long before Bill was at the Patriots,
he was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
Don't have a lot going back here.
You know, we haven't shown any...
[Pioli] He was starting to become this young, brilliant coach
that had this bright future, but there was friction
because Bill wanted to cut the hope of the city, Bernie Kosar.
[announcer] And here is Bernie Kosar and his offense.
[Pioli] Bernie wasn't just a quarterback, he was an icon.
He was from Ohio, so he was a local guy, he was a Brown.
[announcer] Bernie Kosar. Open man. Touchdown!
[Pioli] He had a very good career,
yet it was starting to head in the other direction.
[announcer] Kosar. Down. And Kosar is limping.
[Pioli] Bernie broke his ankle.
And when he came back, he was less mobile than he had been in the past.
[announcer] That was ugly.
[Pioli] Bill decided in order for the Browns to move forward,
it had to be without Bernie.
It's a painful thing, but, uh, I concur a hundred percent
with Bill and his staff that a new direction has to be taken.
Basically, it came down to, I think, a diminishing of his physical skills.
[Pioli] I was on the staff back then in Cleveland.
And we knew it was the right decision,
but we didn't have a great solution to the problem.
Right now I think you really have to question Bill Belichick's decision
to cut Bernie Kosar last week.
Todd Philcox, his first start of the year, he had four turnovers.
[Pioli] We didn't have a legitimate top-end NFL starter,
and Bill caught hell for it.
He's terrible. I had season tickets and didn't go to a single game.
I'm, like, in shock. I think Belichick should have been cut.
I was just devastated. I don't know what Belichick and Modell are thinking.
I think flags in Cleveland are flying at half-mast.
[Pioli] You know, there were people protesting.
There were threats made to Bill, there were threats made to the Browns.
Bill had to have police at the entrance of the neighborhood that they lived in.
It was tough on him, but tougher on his family.
[Debby Belichick] I don't read the papers or don't listen to the radio
or don't listen to the TV.
And just worry about Bill as a husband, and not zero in on always his job.
We try real hard not to let the kids feel the pressure.
But it's getting harder because they're in school,
they ride the bus, they hear a lot of things.
He might as well stick a knife in the backs of the community
and twist it.
[man] There ain't never gonna be anywhere this man could hide
that we ain't gonna hunt him down and torment him until the day he dies.
[reporter] For the people in Cleveland, it was personal.
And two years later, when Art announced
that the team was moving, things exploded.
- [crowd cheering] - Three, two, one...
[loud cheering]
[reporter 2] This was truly a grave day for Art Modell,
as Modell and coach Bill Belichick were hung in effigy.
It gave fans a chance to vent pent up hostilities.
[all chanting] Bill must go. Bill must go. Bill must go.
[Pioli] It was a tense situation.
And at the end, Belichick got fired.
[chanting continues]
[TV reporter] Drew Bledsoe has been given medical clearance to play Sunday,
but Bledsoe has not been given clearance to start by head coach Bill Belichick.
Bledsoe's replacement, Tom Brady, has guided the Pats
to a five and two record as a starter, and will remain just that for New England.
[Pioli] The Drew Bledsoe decision,
it reminded us of the whole Bernie Kosar thing.
And Bill wasn't doubting or questioning himself,
but he certainly knew how fragile things were.
Okay.
[Pioli] For the coaching staff, if we didn't succeed,
our career with the Patriots was probably over.
[stadium crowd cheering]
[chanting, indistinct]
[announcer] The Patriots at five and four are a surprise in the AFC.
But even more surprising than their record is the way they have done it.
Without Drew Bledsoe.
Drew Bledsoe is back on the active list,
but the starting quarterback is still Tom Brady.
[crowd] Drew! Drew! Drew! Drew!
What are you guys videoing me for?
[man] Because you're a pretty good quarterback.
I appreciate that.
I happen to think so too, I just gotta get back out on the field.
[MacMullan] To make this decision, and choose this kid, Tom Brady...
I think we found out about Bill Belichick's guts, if you will.
I mean, he had a very underwhelming stint in Cleveland.
He had been five-eleven the year before for New England.
It's not like this guy was lighting the world on fire.
He was not this, you know, revered coach among the ranks.
He didn't have space to make mistakes.
[Belichick] The only thing you have in the National Football League, really,
is your name and your reputation, and you earn that whatever it is.
That comes in a lot of different stages, but that's... that's for all of us.
[announcer] Tonight, Tom Brady's gotta be the biggest show in town.
- [crowd cheering] - Intercepted!
Threw it right into the hands of the middle linebacker.
God damn it!
[announcer] And I didn't even see a receiver in the area.
Tom Brady tries to force a play when he doesn't have to.
Part of the learning process for a young quarterback.
[players shouting, indistinct]
[announcer] Brady steps up. Throws.
Intercepted again!
[crowd cheering, booing]
[inaudible]
Watching that game, I felt that Bill had let us down.
I had people on my case, how bad my judgement was
for not starting a guy like Drew Bledsoe.
They were calling me insane. "What a mistake."
[announcer] Our final score, St. Louis 24, New England 17.
And it's back to five hundred for the New England Patriots.
[Kraft] Bill and I, we were under pressure.
And the decisions that we were about to make
were gonna determine the future of football in New England
for the next 20 years.