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NFL Draft: Why was Tom Brady only pick 199 and who went ahead of him?

Tom Brady wins another Super Bowl

Planet Sport looks at the most famous NFL Draft pick in history as Tom Brady went from a pick 199 afterthought to seven-time Super Bowl winner.

The NFL Draft is all about hope. The hope that bad teams can get better, the hope that good teams can find that missing piece in the puzzle, and the hope that you might, just might, find your next franchise superstar.
You can look through a plethora of rankings, lists, articles naming the best value Draft picks, those diamonds in the rough that went on to win a Super Bowl or make the Pro Bowl, but there's only really one to top every list.
"With the 199th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots select Tom Brady, quarterback, Michigan."
That's right, pick 199. 198 players were deemed by all the top scouts of NFL teams to be better players than Tom Brady, the now GOAT of the league with a record seven Super Bowl rings adorning his fingers.
He's the standard bearer in the NFL, he's delivered when it mattered time and time again in the biggest games, and as he'll start his 23rd season in the league aged 45 - his longevity and competitive spirit is only matched by his achievement.

And ironically, he has his lowly Draft position to thank, as coming out as a sixth-round afterthought, a nailed-on back-up quarterback destined for a journeyman career, he's carried that chip on his shoulder throughout his time dominating the league.

That chip has driven him on to greatness.

Why was Tom Brady such a low Draft pick?

To be fair, Brady's performance at the NFL Combine, where players are put through their paces with running and throwing drills and their physical attributes are measured and marked, was pretty ordinary to say the least.
The lanky, lumbering Californian kid produced one of the slowest sprint times ever, and did not look anything like the powerful Adonis many of the modern quarterbacks turn up looking like today.
About the only thing he had going for him was his height, and to go from that college kid in the baggy shirt and shorts to the global icon and most transcendent NFL star ever is something that will surely never be repeated.
We can't even give Bill Belichick or the New England Patriots too much credit as even they only brought him in as a back-up for their starter Drew Bledsoe, and Brady only got his shot due to a nasty injury to their top QB.
The rest, as they say, is history, as Brady went on to dominate the league during two decades with the Patriots, before adding a seventh Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for good measure. And he's not quite done yet!

The six quarterbacks picked before Tom Brady

It obviously wasn't a quarterback-heavy Draft in 2000, with only six QBs taken before Brady went in the sixth round. A couple you may have heard of but of the others....some teams will forever be scratching their heads about passing on Brady.

Pick 183 Spergon Wynn

Taken just before Brady by the Cleveland Browns, Wynn started just one game for the Browns, which was an unmitigated disaster as it ended 48-0 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Wynn also played for the Minnesota Vikings, after a spell at NFL Europe, but threw just one touchdown in the NFL before spending time in Canada in the CFL.

Pick 168 Marc Bulger

One of the better known players from the QB class of the 2000 to be taken before Brady, Marc Bulger was picked up by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round and went on to spend a decade in the NFL.
Bulger also played for the Atlanta Falcons, and Baltimore Ravens but it was with the then St Louis Rams where he made his name, playing for them for nine years and making two Pro Bowls.
Bulger threw 122 touchdown passes and 93 interceptions and ended his career with a record of 41-54.

Pick 163 - Tee Martin

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Tee Martin in the fifth round after being a star at Tennessee in college, but only went on to throw six touchdown passes in the NFL.
Martin spent a year with the Steelers, before heading to NFL Europe with the Rhein Fire and eventually returning to the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles.
He had slightly better fortunes as a coach and is on the staff of the Baltimore Ravens working with the receivers.

Pick 75 - Chris Redman

The Baltimore Ravens opted for Chris Redman out of Louisville but he would never go on to nail down a regular starting spot in the league.
Redman moved from Baltimore to Atlanta to join the Falcons but was only ever a back-up to regular Pro Bowler Matt Ryan before he retired. He did mingle with Tom Brady at one stage as he was on the New England Patriots' practice squad in 2005.

Pick 65 - Giovanni Carmazzi

Who? You may ask, as Giovanni Carmazzi never made it onto the field for a regular season game in the NFL after playing for the San Francisco 49ers in the Hall of Fame game - a glorified pre-season friendly.

Tom Brady, a huge 49ers fan and local lad, was still on the board and not taken for another 134 picks, and how San Francisco's front office must have gone over and over how they managed to make such a big mistake.

Carmazzi did get on the field in NFL Europe and in the Canadian CFL but never made it in the big league.

Pick 18 - Chad Pennington

And finally...the only first-round quarterback taken in Tom Brady's Draft class is none other than Chad Pennington.
Many will scoff, and rightly so in direct comparison to Brady's career, but Pennington was the only QB to stop the Patriots winning the AFC East during Brady's spell as starter - and he did it twice.
The 2008 season with the Dolphins came as Brady sat out most of the campaign with a knee injury, but the 2002 success with the Jets saw Pennington beat Brady in New England en route to the divisional title.
Pennington had an 11-year NFL career with the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets and compiled a 44-37 record when throwing 102 touchdowns and 64 interceptions.
Injuries meant he only played two full seasons, and winning Comeback Player of the Year twice shows you how tough it was for him to stay healthy.
Pennington also came second to Peyton Manning in the 2008 MVP voting so on balance you have to say the Jets were right to take him in the first round as he offered far more potential than Brady did at college and in the combine.
He'll always be the quarterback taken first in the Brady Draft though.
READ MORE: Who will be first pick of the 2022 NFL Draft?

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