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And Bledsoe retires...


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Will he be a HOF'er? He has the 7th most passing yards in the history of the NFL and played in two superbowls.

 

Drew Bledsoe retired Wednesday, ending a 14-season career in which he made two Super Bowls.

 

The top overall pick by New England in the 1993 draft out of Washington State, the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback played for the Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys. He was a starter for all three teams, but ended up as a backup with the Cowboys.

Bledsoe threw for 44,611 yards and 251 touchdown passes in his career.

 

"I feel so fortunate, so honored, to have played this game that I love for so long, with so many great players, and in front of so many wonderful fans," he said. "I fulfilled a childhood dream the first time I stepped on an NFL field, and the league did not let me down one time. I retire with a smile on my face, in good health, and ready to spend autumns at my kids' games instead of my own. I'm excited to start the next chapter of my life."

 

The 35-year-old Bledsoe lost his starting job to Tom Brady in New England in 2001 when Bledsoe got hurt in the second game of the season, and to Tony Romo in Dallas after Game 6 of last season.

 

He also asked for his release from the Bills after the 2004 season, when the team informed him it was going with J.P. Losman as the starter the next year. Bledsoe didn't want to be a backup there after he led the Bills to the brink of the playoffs.

 

He then signed with the Cowboys and was their starter for all of 2005 and part of '06.

 

In 1996, Bledsoe guided the Patriots to the AFC championship. They lost to Green Bay in the Super Bowl.

 

He remained the Patriots' starter until he was tackled by the Jets' Mo Lewis in the second game of the 2001 season and injured his chest. Brady took over, although Bledsoe got New England into the Super Bowl in place of the injured Brady by beating Pittsburgh in the AFC title game.

 

Brady then was the MVP of the Super Bowl win over St. Louis.

 

The Bills acquired Bledsoe during the 2002 NFL draft by dealing their first-round pick in 2003 to New England. Bledsoe had strong first season in Buffalo, setting 10 team passing records, including single-season marks with 4,359 yards and 375 completions.

 

His numbers, however, began to decline drastically. In his final 30 games with Buffalo, Bledsoe never finished with more than 296 yards passing, while throwing 29 touchdowns and 27 interceptions during that stretch.

 

He finishes seventh all-time in yards passing, 13th in touchdown passes and fifth in completions (3,839).

 

 

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Granted he is rarely talked about in terms of greatness but over the course of his career, he has done a lot more than most other QBs.

 

That's more yards than Unitas, Montana, Fouts, Esaison, Kelly, Aikman, etc...

 

The only guys with more are Marino, Favre, Elway, Moon, Tarkenton and Testaverde.

 

Of those six guys, only Testaverde and Favre (a lock) are not in the HOF and both are not eligible yet.

 

And there are a whole bunch of QBs below him that are (see above).

 

Just wondering. Doesn't seem like he would but then again, doesn't seem like he would be 7th all time in passing yards.

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I'm as big a Bledsoe fan as there is and I don't think he's got enough for the HOF. He'll be one of those borderline guys who had the pure stats, but the perception is that he was worse than he was, due to benchings, immobility/non-"flashiness" (as outshined said...so is Vick, the king of flash, a HOF'er? :D ) -- all the stuff that, let's be honest, comes into play. But let's not forget, Pats fans, that he as much as anyone else (along with Kraft, Parcells, and Curtis Martin) turned this franchise from an absolute joke into a contender again even before Belichick got here.

 

He's a true clas act, a down to earth family man, and whether you want to believe it or not, was one of the great ones. :D

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Easy HOFer.

 

Look at the numbers:

 

Rank among the league's all-time top 50 in NFL history:

 

Pass attempts: 5

Completions: 5

Passing yards: 7

Passing TDs: 13

 

Seasons among the league's top 10:

 

Pass attempts:

 

1994-1, 1995-1, 1996-1, 1997-3, 1998-8, 1999-3, 2000-8, 2002-2, 2005-8

 

Completions:

 

1994-1, 1995-7, 1996-1, 1997-2, 1998-8, 1999-6, 2000-8, 2002-3, 2005-8

 

Passing yards:

 

1994-1, 1996-3, 1997-4, 1998-6, 1999-6, 2002-2, 2005-8

 

Passing TDs:

 

1993-10t, 1994-4, 1996-3, 1997-3, 1999-10t, 2002-7, 2005-8t

 

**********************************************

 

If longevity is going to be a criteria in selection (aka Terrell Davis detractors, for example), then there has to be at least a modicum of consistency for players that accumulate stats not only through great play but also longevity.

 

Beside that and the numbers he put up, Bledsoe was one of the toughest QBs ever to play the game.

 

I'm no Bledsoe pimp, but I recognize acheivement when I see it.

 

 

 

For whatever reason this made me laugh...

 

 

For some reason, that doesn't surprise me in the least...

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I'm as big a Bledsoe fan as there is and I don't think he's got enough for the HOF. He'll be one of those borderline guys who had the pure stats, but the perception is that he was worse than he was, due to benchings, immobility/non-"flashiness" (as outshined said...so is Vick, the king of flash, a HOF'er? :D ) -- all the stuff that, let's be honest, comes into play. But let's not forget, Pats fans, that he as much as anyone else (along with Kraft, Parcells, and Curtis Martin) turned this franchise from an absolute joke into a contender again even before Belichick got here.

 

He's a true clas act, a down to earth family man, and whether you want to believe it or not, was one of the great ones. :D

 

 

If he is one of the great ones, how is he not a HOF'er?

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In his case, no Superbowl victory, no HoF. Great guy, very good QB, but IMO hasn't done quite enough to get in.

 

 

I understand that a QB is not "complete" unless he wins a Super Bowl...but this logic also implies that Trent Dilfer and Jeff Hostetler should be in the HoF.

 

At a certain point, the numbers have to speak for themselves.

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Think th elogic isn't Trent Dilfer in, Drew Bledsoe out. It's Drew Bledsoe with a ring in, without one out / Trent Dilfer just not in period.

 

Forgetting that for a sec (although it's part of it), I think Drew will get in (barely) although right now doesn't seem like it because of the "what have you done lately" phenomenon. Last few years, he's tailed off in all ways, but arounf say 2000, if you asked the question, you'd have said "with 5 more decent years, he's a lock". He's done enough since to be in. In a way, comparable to Favre with a big difference - Favre's performance last 5 years is hardly HOFish, but because at least it's been same team, somewhat same "look" to him, it's easy to 'remember' the MVP he was. With Bledsoe, it's impossible to look at the last three years and remember this guy being a top QB

 

In saying all that, only reason he'll get in is the QB bias - a similar lineman, LB or even WR wouldn't stand a chance.

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I understand that a QB is not "complete" unless he wins a Super Bowl

 

 

That's a BS argument and would automatically exclude guys like Jim Kelly (who is in the Hall rightly despite much lower career rankings than Bledoe, BTW), Fran Tarkenton, (who is also in with roughly the same career marks as Bledsoe) Dan Fouts, (who has slightly lower career marks than Bledsoe) & Bledsoe despite posting great career numbers, and make guys like Bob Griese & Terry Bradshaw easier entries into the HOF (who are also in) despite being very good but hardly great QBs who happened to be the QB while they had great teams built around them.

 

If Griese & Bradshaw are in the HOF, Bledsoe definitely goes in - much less Bledsoe being the equal or better than Kelly, Tarkenton, & Fouts, who were easily better QBs than Griese & Bradshaw but didn't have the superb surrounding casts of those 2.

Edited by Bronco Billy
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That's a BS argument and would automatically exclude guys like Jim Kelly (who is in the Hall rightly despite much lower career rankings than Bledoe, BTW), Fran Tarkenton, (who is also in with roughly the same career marks as Bledsoe) Dan Fouts, (who has slightly lower career marks than Bledsoe) & Bledsoe despite posting great career numbers, and make guys like Bob Griese & Terry Bradshaw easier entries into the HOF (who are also in) despite being very good but hardly great QBs who happened to be the QB while they had great teams built around them.

 

If Griese & Bradshaw are in the HOF, Bledsoe definitely goes in - much less Bledsoe being the equal or better than Kelly, Trakenton, & Fouts, who were easily better QBs than Griese & Bradshaw but didn't have the superb surrounding casts of those 2.

 

 

My point exactly...it is a BS argument. Bledsoe is in the top rankings of most passing categories. He is a HoFer regardless of whether or not he has a ring.

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Easy HOFer.

 

Look at the numbers:

 

Rank among the league's all-time top 50 in NFL history:

 

Pass attempts: 5

Completions: 5

Passing yards: 7

Passing TDs: 13

 

Seasons among the league's top 10:

 

Pass attempts:

 

1994-1, 1995-1, 1996-1, 1997-3, 1998-8, 1999-3, 2000-8, 2002-2, 2005-8

 

Completions:

 

1994-1, 1995-7, 1996-1, 1997-2, 1998-8, 1999-6, 2000-8, 2002-3, 2005-8

 

Passing yards:

 

1994-1, 1996-3, 1997-4, 1998-6, 1999-6, 2002-2, 2005-8

 

Passing TDs:

 

1993-10t, 1994-4, 1996-3, 1997-3, 1999-10t, 2002-7, 2005-8t

 

**********************************************

 

If longevity is going to be a criteria in selection (aka Terrell Davis detractors, for example), then there has to be at least a modicum of consistency for players that accumulate stats not only through great play but also longevity.

 

Beside that and the numbers he put up, Bledsoe was one of the toughest QBs ever to play the game.

 

I'm no Bledsoe pimp, but I recognize acheivement when I see it.

For some reason, that doesn't surprise me in the least...

 

 

By this argument, Testaverde is also a HOF'er, which he is NOT. Bledsoe isn't either.

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IMO, playing a long career by moving around from bad team to bad team accumulating stats does not make you a Hall of Fame quarterback.

 

Even in Bledsoe's best years with the Patriots, he would always start out the season like a house of fire, and then tail off. He wasn't good enough to win the Super Bowl he was in. Wasn't good enough to get his job back from Tom Brady. Wasn't good enough to keep his job from being handed to J.P Losman. Wasn't good enough to keep his job over Tony Romo.

 

He's just not good enough for the Hall of Fame.

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Bledsoe will bear the curse of those with short memories. They'll remember Buffalo and Dallas, not New England. He had some really nice years there in the mid to late 90s when he was a top fantasy QB pick.

 

I think he should be in the HOF, but won't be.

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Bledsoe will bear the curse of those with short memories. They'll remember Buffalo and Dallas, not New England. He had some really nice years there in the mid to late 90s when he was a top fantasy QB pick.

 

I think he should be in the HOF, but won't be.

 

 

+1 & well said. If someone thinks that Bledsoe was a pedestrian as Testeverde, they obviously weren't watching football during Bledsoe's NE years.

Edited by Bronco Billy
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That's a BS argument and would automatically exclude guys like Jim Kelly (who is in the Hall rightly despite much lower career rankings than Bledoe, BTW), Fran Tarkenton, (who is also in with roughly the same career marks as Bledsoe) Dan Fouts, (who has slightly lower career marks than Bledsoe) & Bledsoe despite posting great career numbers, and make guys like Bob Griese & Terry Bradshaw easier entries into the HOF (who are also in) despite being very good but hardly great QBs who happened to be the QB while they had great teams built around them.

 

If Griese & Bradshaw are in the HOF, Bledsoe definitely goes in - much less Bledsoe being the equal or better than Kelly, Tarkenton, & Fouts, who were easily better QBs than Griese & Bradshaw but didn't have the superb surrounding casts of those 2.

 

And Dan Marino did not win a championship either.

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