Tom Brady's Career Began And Almost Ended At Michigan

MICHIGAN — The legend of Tom Brady didn't start after an early season injury to Patriots starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe in 2001. Rather, it started in a fierce quarterback duel for the starting quarterback position at Michigan against another Drew, Drew Henson.

After narrowly losing the job to Brain Griese in 1997, the year Michigan last won the national championship, Brady was named the starter in 1998, where he started 10 of 11 games and completed 200 passes for 2,427 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

The junior Brady beat out local freshman quarterback Drew Henson for the job. And even though Brady played most of the snaps that year, Henson played in several games, including the bowl victory over Arkansas and garnered lots of attention.

Despite Brady's solid year, leading Michigan to 10 wins and a victory over Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl, his senior year at Michigan proved to be his toughest challenge yet.

After Brady and the highly recruited Henson battled for the position in training camp, the plan was to split the two quarterback's game time, with Brady starting the game and Henson in the second quarter, and then the hotter hand would finish the game.

Even with the two juggling playing time at quarterback, Michigan started 5-0, with both quarterbacks playing well. The turning point in the season actually came in Michigan's first lost of the season against Michigan State.

After Henson threw an 81-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Knight in the second quarter, Michigan head coach Loyd Carr went with Henson to finish the game. However, with Michigan down 17 points in the fourth quarter, Carr went back to Brady, and he nearly brought the Wolverines back.

While Michigan still lost the game to Michigan State, Brady threw for 247 yards in the near fourth quarter comeback. He won the quarterback job and never looked back. The next week, Brady threw for over 300 yards, permanently separating himself from Henson and solidifying himself as Michigan's starting quarterback for the remainder of the year.

The last five games of the season is where Brady shined the greatest in the maize and blue. The Wolverines won those five games, including a close win against Indiana and a fourth quarter comeback against Penn State, which earned him the nickname, "Comeback Kid."

Brady also led a game winning drive against Michigan's most hated rival, the Ohio State Buckeyes and led Michigan back from two separate 14-point deficits against Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl. Michigan ultimately won the game in overtime, where Brady threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns.

Despite winning Michigan's starting quarterback position on multiple occasions and his strong finish to his college career, Brady wasn't projected a highly touted pro prospect. He was selected by the New England Patriots 199th overall in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.

Of course no one could have predicted Brady would go on to be the NFL's most accomplished quarterback when he stepped in for an injured Drew Bledsoe in just his second season. But the legend of Tom Brady started and almost ended in Ann Arbor.