Tom Brady was famously selected 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, and while most football fans know this fact, is it possible he forgot?
The Brady Six, NFL Films even created a documentary about the six quarterbacks selected ahead of him in the 2000 NFL Draft. But it’s The Brady Six, not The Brady Eight. Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger and Spergon Wynn were picked before Brady, and the seven-time Super Bowl champion was able to recite those names in the documentary. Todd Husak and Ja’Juan Seider were picked after Brady.
But during his Tuesday afternoon interview on The Pat McAfee Show, Brady strangely appeared to forget he was drafted altogether. During the interview, McAfee did a good job of asking Brady about his looming media career with Fox and even the awkwardness of bumping Greg Olsen from the booth.
Tom Brady gives praise to the outgoing Greg Olsen and reveals he’s been getting some NFL broadcast practice in with Kevin Burkhardt recently pic.twitter.com/aWtXn6kb4h
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 30, 2024
“I certainly have had a unique vision and perspective of the game,” Brady said after noting he’s a fan of Olsen. “I’ve been a part of a lot of Super Bowls and championship games. I’ve had some seasons that didn’t go the way we wanted. I’ve had some injuries. I was an undrafted rookie.”
First of all, what? An undrafted rookie? Second of all, hat tip to Demetri Ravanos for catching. We just established Brady was picked No. 199 overall, and he knows the quarterbacks who were selected in the 2000 NFL Draft with him. Not only was he drafted, but executives and coaches have long attempted to deflect blame for passing on the seven-time Super Bowl champion by claiming they begged their respective teams to select him to no avail.
So why is Brady now claiming he was undrafted? Maybe he was generalizing the fact that he was overlooked in the draft, kind of like the way he said “a lot of Super Bowls” instead of 10. But at least “a lot of Super Bowls” is accurate, even if it isn’t exact. “Undrafted rookie” is not an accurate description of Brady, and it was a strange fallacy to put on his resume when everyone has long associated him with No. 199.
Maybe he legitimately forgot the Patriots drafted him. Maybe he was speaking in generalities, or maybe Brady is watching Brock Purdy succeed as Mr. Irrelevant and is already preparing to defend his own rags-to-riches story. ‘You were the last pick of the NFL Draft? Well, I wasn’t even picked!’ As if the legend needs any more folklore.
Brady’s competitive drive is unbeaten, so it’s not wild to assume he fabricated narratives as a mode of motivation throughout his football career. That’s probably a difficult trait to unwire. And as he begins to fend off comparisons to Purdy, Brady just may have convinced himself that he was spurned by every NFL team seven times over.
