Mo Lewis altered NFL history the second he made contact with Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe during the fourth quarter of the Jets’ second game of the 2001 season.
Lewis leveled New England’s $100 million quarterback and sent him to the sideline with an injury that landed him in the hospital. The Patriots were left with no choice but to turn to their second-year backup quarterback, a former sixth-round pick who had appeared in just one game as a rookie.
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. wasn’t highly thought of coming out of the University of Michigan. He spent just two seasons as the program’s starting quarterback and was far from an overly impressive athlete. The Patriots selected Brady with the 199th pick in the 2000 draft, but with Bledsoe entrenched as the starter and signed to a long-term extension before the 2001 season, Brady was viewed as nothing more than an insurance policy.
