Tough choice

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By GARY SHELTON, Times Sports Columnist

© St. Petersburg Times
published January 30, 2002

NEW ORLEANS -- It will be Brady, of course. It has to be Brady.

Some decisions are difficult. This isn't. How can the Patriots even think of not starting Tom Brady in Sunday's Super Bowl? Afterall, he is the one who pulled the team's season out of the dumpster. Yep. It has to be Brady, all right.

Then again, maybe it is Bledsoe. Yeah, that's it. Bledsoe.

[AP photo] Drew Bledsoe, left, and Tom Brady both played in New England's 24-17 victory at Pittsburgh in the AFC title game.

How can the Patriots not start Bledsoe? He throws the ball better. He's bigger. He's more experienced. And he was the team's best quarterback in its victory in the AFC title game. Heck, if Bledsoe hadn't gotten hurt to start with, you might never have heard of Brady.

Go on. Weigh in. Argue. Debate. The Super Bowl finally has an honest-to-goodness, this-guy-or-that-one quarterback controversy.

This is rare, of course, because usually a team doesn't reach the Super Bowl unless it's solid at the quarterback position. Not since Don Shula was trying to decide between Bob Griese or Earl Morrall, or before that, Earl Morrall or Johnny Unitas, has America been able to play along with a quarterback choice before a Super Bowl.

So is it Brady, the kid who came from nowhere?

Or is it Bledsoe, the guy who used to be someone?

Bill Belichick, fun guy that he is, isn't talking. Belichick says he'll announce his decision on which quarterback to play, and which heart to break, after today's practice.

The guess here: He'll pick Brady.

And he'll be wrong.

This is nothing against Brady, a pleasantly dull sort of fellow who just happened to save the Patriots' bacon this season. Now, no one would ever suggest that Phil Jackson could be mistaken for one of the Jacksons, or that Bill Cartwright could be a Cartwright. But Tom Brady, bless his ruddy little cheeks, really could be a Brady. You can picture him asking Alice for a glass of milk.

So what's a nice guy like him doing in a game like this? Before this year, Brady was a faceless player who had completed all of one NFL pass. He was best known, in fact, for having a backup-eye's view of Brian Griese as Michigan won a national title. Brady was a sixth-round pick in the draft two seasons ago and, to some, that seemed high.

But go back to the third week in September, and the Patriots' season was a mess. The team was 0-2, and Bledsoe was spitting up blood after being clocked by the Jets' Mo Lewis, and wide receiver Terry Glenn had turned wacko. Also, the barn was on fire.

And in came Brady, steady, accurate, and the winning began. The Patriots are 13-3 since then. There seemed to be some poise to the kid, some stability, and the Patriots seemed to feed off it.

Why will the Patriots stick with Brady? Because Belichick already made this decision once. After the Pats lost to St. Louis in Week 10, Belichick announced that Brady would be his quarterback for the rest of the season. It was a decision that steamed Bledsoe at the time. He hasn't gotten over it yet.

"I anticipate playing," Brady said. "I'm not anticipating anything else."

The thing is, he probably will. Coaches don't change successful jockeys. They simply don't. If Brady's ankle is 80 percent or better -- and he isn't limping -- then he'll get the call. Besides, if he's hobbling, you can always turn to Bledsoe.

But that's the thing. If you admit you have a better chance of catching up with Bledsoe, don't you also have a better shot at getting ahead? Put it this way: The Rams have already beaten the Patriots with Brady.

Here's the case for Bledsoe. Simply, he's a better quarterback. There was a reason Bledsoe commanded a $103-million contract, and there was a reason 198 players were drafted ahead of Brady. And don't coaches always say the best 11 players are going to start?

"I want to start the game," Bledsoe says simply. "I want it as bad as I've ever wanted anything. If I don't start, I'll be disappointed."

Bledsoe says this matter-of-factly, without emotion. He admits it has been a tough year for him, and if you press him, he will say it hasn't been an altogether fair one. How many quarterbacks of his magnitude, who have absorbed so many blows for their teams, wouldn't return to the field once healthy?

But Bledsoe hasn't ranted, he hasn't raved. He has heard people talk about Brady's intangibles -- face it, if a quarterback has a lesser arm and more limited skills, you talk about his intangibles -- as if they have forgotten how many times Bledsoe rose from the turf without complaint. He has bitten his lip and bided his time.

For the Patriots, that time should be Sunday. If you believe in karma, there is something fitting about Bledsoe running onto the field, leading his team once again. Against the Rams, that might not be enough. But the Patriots are better off with Bledsoe than without him.

But Brady is Belichick's guy. Belichick gambled on him before, and Brady got him to the Super Bowl. Going with Brady is the safe decision. Also, the wrong one.

Brady will start the game.

Bledsoe will finish it.

And in New England, fans will argue for a hundred years what might have happened if the order had been reversed.

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