Jump to content

Drew Bledsoe: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Line 250: Line 250:


===Accomplishments===
===Accomplishments===
*His 4,452 pass attempts in his first eight seasons rank second to [[Brett Favre]] whose 4,456 attempts are the most by a quarterback during any eight-year period in NFL history
⚫
While Bledsoe's statistics are impressive, a frequent criticism is that they are based on volume (attempts, completions, yards) rather than efficiency (passer rating, TD-to-INT ratio, yards per attempt) proving only that he has thrown a great number of times, not that he has thrown well<ref>[http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Article.php?Page=1088 CHFF classic: The last word on Bledsoe] ColdHardFootballFacts.com. Accessed 30 June 2007.</ref>. According to Don Banks of [[Sports Illustrated]], Bledsoe's large career totals "reveal more about his longevity than about his excellence"<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/don_banks/04/13/bledsoe/index.html No Hall call for Bledsoe] SportsIllustrated.com. Accessed 30 June 2007.</ref>.
*Bledsoe owns the Patriots’ franchise career passing records for attempts, completions, and yards, and is second to [[Steve Grogan]] in touchdowns
*He passed for 3,291 yards in 2000, his seventh consecutive season with at least 3,000 yards passing. He became just the fourth player in NFL history to ever accomplish the feat, joining [[Dan Marino]] (9), [[Brett Favre]] (9) and [[John Elway]] (7). He did not have a chance to repeat the feat in 2001 as he was sidelined with a life-threatening injury. In 2002 with the Bills, he passed for over 4,000 yards and again passed for over 3,000 yards in 2005 with the [[Dallas Cowboys]].
*Bledsoe had been incredibly durable throughout his first eight years with the Patriots, having played in 126 of 132 possible games since entering the league in 1993. Brett Favre was the only quarterback to see more action in games from 1993-2001.
*In 1998, he directed the Patriots to the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. Before Bledsoe’s arrival, the Patriots had qualified for the playoffs just six times in 33 years.
*In 1994, he set Patriots franchise single-season passing records for attempts (691), completions (400) and yards passing (4,555).
*In 1995, he set a franchise record by attempting 179 consecutive passes without an interception (10/23/95 to 11/26/95).
*At the age of 23, he became the youngest player in NFL history to surpass the 10,000-yard passing plateau when he connected with Ben Coates on a 6-yard completion just before the half vs. the Jets (12/10/95).
*Prior to 1994, the Patriot's single-season record for passing yards was 3,465 yards. Bledsoe eclipsed that mark six consecutive seasons.
*At the age of 22, he became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to play in the Pro Bowl.
*Has 32 career 4th quarter/OT game winning scores

⚫
While Bledsoe's statistics are impressive, a frequent criticism is that they are based on volume (attempts, completions, yards) rather than efficiency (passer rating, TD-to-INT ratio, yards per attempt) proving only that he has thrown a great number of times, not that he has thrown well<ref>[http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Article.php?Page=1088 CHFF classic: The last word on Bledsoe] ColdHardFootballFacts.com. Accessed 30 June 2007.</ref>. According to Don Banks of [[Sports Illustrated]], Bledsoe's large career totals "reveal more about his longevity than about his excellence"<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/don_banks/04/13/bledsoe/index.html No Hall call for Bledsoe] SportsIllustrated.com. Accessed 30 June 2007.</ref>. This argument is not unique to Bledsoe and can be applied to numerous Hall of Fame NFL quarterbacks such as [[Dan Marino]], [[John Elway]], [[Dan Fouts]], [[Warren Moon]], and [[Fran Tarkenton]] – all of whom played for more seasons than Bledsoe yet have similar (and even lesser) statistics in many cases.


==Notes and references==
==Notes and references==

Revision as of 03:13, 21 August 2007

Drew Bledsoe
refer to caption
Drew Bledsoe in Pre-Game Stretches.
No. 11
Position:Quarterback
Career information
College:Washington State
NFL draft:1993 / round: 1 / pick: 1
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Player stats at PFR

Drew McQueen Bledsoe (born February 14, 1972) is a former National Football League quarterback known best for his almost eight years of starting for the New England Patriots. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he was perceived to be the face of the Patriots franchise. Bledsoe, an All-American for the Washington State Cougars and former #1 overall draft pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, announced his retirement from the sport on April 11, 2007. In recent years the former Patriot has played for the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys.

High school years

Bledsoe attended Walla Walla High School in Walla Walla, Washington and was a letterman in football and basketball. In football, he was named a first team All-State selection by the Tacoma News Tribune.

College years

Bledsoe started 28 games for Washington State University. He threw for 7,373 yards, 44 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. During his junior season he broke multiple school records including: Most yards passing in a single game (476), most pass completions in a season (241), and most passing yards in a season (3,246). He was named Pac-10 offensive player of the year after his junior season.[1]He decided to skip his senior year to enter the NFL draft.

New England Patriots: 1993-2001

Bledsoe was drafted 1st overall in the 1993 draft by the New England Patriots. He started immediately and by his second year led the league in passing attempts, completions, and touchdowns.[2] He set the record for most pass attempts (70) and completions (45) in a game on Nov. 13, 1994 against the Minnesota Vikings. In that game vs. Minnesota, Bledsoe set a franchise record completing 45 of 70 passes for 421 yards and 3 touchdowns and led the Patriots from a 20-0 deficit with 58 seconds remaining in the first half.[3] During the 1996 season, the Patriots won the AFC championship against the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-6. This lead to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXI, where they lost 35-21 against the Green Bay Packers, with Bledsoe completing 25 of 48 passes for 253 yards, 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. In the past 15 NFL seasons, Bledsoe and Steve McNair (2000, Tennessee Titans) are the only two quarterbacks who have led their teams to a Super Bowl despite having a non-top 10 defense.[4] During the 1997 season, Bledsoe helped the Patriots win 5 of their final 7 games to once again qualify for the playoffs, the fourth time in eight years as a Patriots starter he would lead the team to a post-season run. The Patriots lost the in the second round to the Pittsburgh Steelers, in large part due to their lack of a rushing attack which yielded a paltry 36 yards in the game (1.9 yards per carry).[5] Despite this loss, Bledsoe had arguably his best season, with a career high 87.7 passer rating, 2nd most passing yards in the NFL, and was rewarded with his third Pro Bowl invitation. Bledsoe had another stellar season in 1998, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to complete game-winning touchdown passes in the final 30 seconds of two consecutive games.[6] He accomplished the feat with wins over the Miami Dolphins (11/23/98) and Buffalo Bills (11/29/98) and in doing so he propelled New England into the postseason for the third straight year. Remarkably, he completed these heroic come-from-behind efforts while playing with a broken index finger on his throwing hand. In March 2001, Bledsoe was rewarded for his skill and grit by the Patriots organization and owner Robert Kraft with a $100 million contract.[7] Said Kraft, "I remember feeling sad when Bobby Orr left. I saw this as an opportunity to sign one of the great Patriots for the rest of his career." Unfortunately, Bledsoe would not finish his career with the Patriots nor see the opening of the new Gillette Stadium that his exciting performances helped to build. During the second game of the 2001 season, Bledsoe was hit by New York Jets linebacker, Mo Lewis as he ran upright trying to make it out of bounds. The resulting serious internal injuries gave Tom Brady a chance to take over at quarterback - helping to lead the Patriots on a Super Bowl run. Bledsoe never regained his starting role. However, Bledsoe did play in the AFC Championship Game after Brady left the game with an ankle injury. Bledsoe, starting from the Steelers 40 yard line, led the Patriots on a scoring drive, capped by an 11 yard touchdown pass to David Patten. In the game, Bledsoe completed 10 of 21 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown, with no interceptions. The Patriots defeated the Steelers 24-17 and qualified for Super Bowl XXXVI. Despite losing his starting job with the Patriots, Bledsoe handled the situation with class and dignity. According to an AP article on ESPN.com, he supported Brady "throughout the season as a friend and mentor; when Brady took a nap on the locker room floor before the game, Bledsoe was right beside him. The two also attended a World Series game together in the fall of 2001."[8] Upon requesting and being granted a trade in the offseason, Bledsoe continued to show his class by taking out a full page ad in major Boston newspapers thanking the fans for their support since 1993.[9]

File:LewisBledsoe.jpg
Mo Lewis' hit on Drew Bledsoe

Buffalo Bills: 2002-2004

A change of scenery to Bledsoe's former division rival Buffalo seemed to give him a bit of rejuvenation in 2002. He had one of his best seasons ever, passing for 4,359 yards and making his fourth trip to the Pro Bowl. During his final year with the Bills, they fell one game short of making the playoffs, and a switch to J.P. Losman at the beginning of the next season led to Bledsoe's release per his request. He was 1-5 against the Patriots during his time in Buffalo. The Bills have not beaten the Patriots since Bledsoe’s departure. Bledsoe still owns several Buffalo franchise passing records.

Dallas Cowboys: 2005-2006

Bledsoe was once again reunited with former coach Bill Parcells in Dallas. During this time he threw for over 3,000 yards for the 9th time in his career, tying Warren Moon for fourth in NFL history. In 2005, Bledsoe led five 4th quarter/OT game-winning drives to keep the Cowboys’ playoff hopes alive until the final day of the season.[10] Six games through his second season with the Cowboys, Bledsoe was replaced by Tony Romo. Shortly after the 2006 season, Bledsoe was released by the second team in his career despite being offered a position on the club in the future. In the months following the 2006 season, Bledsoe's illustrious NFL career came to an end as he announced his retirement from the NFL. He finished seventh all-time in yards passing, 13th in touchdown passes and fifth in completions[11]

Family

Drew and his wife Maura (née Healy) have four children: sons Stuart McQueen, John Stack and Henry Healy, and daughter Healy Elizabeth.

Statistics

Career Stats

Passing Stats
Year Team Att Comp Pct Yds TD Int QB rating
1993 New England Patriots 429 214 49.9 2494 15 15 65.0
1994 New England Patriots 691 400 57.9 4555 25 27 73.6
1995 New England Patriots 636 323 50.8 3507 13 16 63.7
1996 New England Patriots 623 373 59.9 4086 27 15 83.7
1997 New England Patriots 522 314 60.2 3706 28 15 87.7
1998 New England Patriots 481 263 54.7 2633 20 14 80.9
1999 New England Patriots 539 305 56.6 3985 19 21 75.6
2000 New England Patriots 531 312 58.8 3291 17 13 77.3
2001 New England Patriots 66 40 60.6 400 2 2 75.3
2002 Buffalo Bills 610 375 61.5 4359 24 15 86.0
2003 Buffalo Bills 471 274 58.2 2860 11 12 73.0
2004 Buffalo Bills 450 256 56.9 2932 20 16 76.6
2005 Dallas Cowboys 499 300 60.1 3639 23 17 83.7
2006 Dallas Cowboys 169 90 53.3 1164 7 8 69.2
Totals 6717 3839 57.2 44611 251 206 77.1

Career totals (as of November 26, 2006)

  • 98-96 as a starter
  • 6,717 passes attempted (5th all time in NFL history; owns 4 of the top 10 NFL seasons ever for a QB in terms of attempts)
  • 3,839 passes completed (5th all time in NFL history; 57.2 Completion percentage)
  • 44,611 passing yards (7th all time in NFL history; 6.64 yards/attempt)
  • 251 passing touchdowns (13th all time in NFL history; 0.037 TD/attempt)
  • 10 rushing TDs
  • 206 passes intercepted (0.031 INT/attempt)
  • 258 Total Turn-overs
  • 26.76 passing attempts per touchdown
  • 32.60 passing attempts per interception
  • 123 fumbles (56 lost)
  • Ranks 180th (All-Time) in turning yards into points

Post-season records and statistics

  • 3-3 in the post-season as a starter (3-0 at home)
  • 252 passes attempted
  • 129 passes completed
  • 51.1 Completion Percentage
  • 54.9 QB Rating
  • 1335 passing yards
  • 6 passing touchdowns
  • 12 passes intercepted
  • 21 passing attempts per interception in the post-season
  • 42 passing attempts per TD in the post-season
  • 1 Super Bowl Championship (2001, New England Patriots - Did not play)

Accomplishments

  • His 4,452 pass attempts in his first eight seasons rank second to Brett Favre whose 4,456 attempts are the most by a quarterback during any eight-year period in NFL history
  • Bledsoe owns the Patriots’ franchise career passing records for attempts, completions, and yards, and is second to Steve Grogan in touchdowns
  • He passed for 3,291 yards in 2000, his seventh consecutive season with at least 3,000 yards passing. He became just the fourth player in NFL history to ever accomplish the feat, joining Dan Marino (9), Brett Favre (9) and John Elway (7). He did not have a chance to repeat the feat in 2001 as he was sidelined with a life-threatening injury. In 2002 with the Bills, he passed for over 4,000 yards and again passed for over 3,000 yards in 2005 with the Dallas Cowboys.
  • Bledsoe had been incredibly durable throughout his first eight years with the Patriots, having played in 126 of 132 possible games since entering the league in 1993. Brett Favre was the only quarterback to see more action in games from 1993-2001.
  • In 1998, he directed the Patriots to the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. Before Bledsoe’s arrival, the Patriots had qualified for the playoffs just six times in 33 years.
  • In 1994, he set Patriots franchise single-season passing records for attempts (691), completions (400) and yards passing (4,555).
  • In 1995, he set a franchise record by attempting 179 consecutive passes without an interception (10/23/95 to 11/26/95).
  • At the age of 23, he became the youngest player in NFL history to surpass the 10,000-yard passing plateau when he connected with Ben Coates on a 6-yard completion just before the half vs. the Jets (12/10/95).
  • Prior to 1994, the Patriot's single-season record for passing yards was 3,465 yards. Bledsoe eclipsed that mark six consecutive seasons.
  • At the age of 22, he became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to play in the Pro Bowl.
  • Has 32 career 4th quarter/OT game winning scores

While Bledsoe's statistics are impressive, a frequent criticism is that they are based on volume (attempts, completions, yards) rather than efficiency (passer rating, TD-to-INT ratio, yards per attempt) proving only that he has thrown a great number of times, not that he has thrown well[12]. According to Don Banks of Sports Illustrated, Bledsoe's large career totals "reveal more about his longevity than about his excellence"[13]. This argument is not unique to Bledsoe and can be applied to numerous Hall of Fame NFL quarterbacks such as Dan Marino, John Elway, Dan Fouts, Warren Moon, and Fran Tarkenton – all of whom played for more seasons than Bledsoe yet have similar (and even lesser) statistics in many cases.

Notes and references

  1. ^ Washington State Scout
  2. ^ Pro football reference
  3. ^ Patriots Official Website. Accessed 20 August 2007.
  4. ^ Pro Football Reference Accessed 20 August 2007.
  5. ^ JT-SW.com Accessed 20 August 2007.
  6. ^ Patriots Official Website Accessed 20 August 2007
  7. ^ Bledsoe Signs Record Contract Chicago Sun-Times. Accessed 20 August 2007.
  8. ^ Bledsoe Heads to Buffalo for 2003 PickESPN.com. Accessed 20 August 2007.
  9. ^ Bledsoe was all about classCowboysPlus.com. Accessed 20 August 2007
  10. ^ JT-SW.com
  11. ^ Bledsoe Retires
  12. ^ CHFF classic: The last word on Bledsoe ColdHardFootballFacts.com. Accessed 30 June 2007.
  13. ^ No Hall call for Bledsoe SportsIllustrated.com. Accessed 30 June 2007.


Preceded by 1st Overall Pick in NFL Draft
1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Buffalo Bills Starting Quarterback
2002-2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Dallas Cowboys Starting Quarterback
2005-2006 		Succeeded by


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Drew_Bledsoe&oldid=152617419"