Tom Brady Out For The Year

[Maple Leaf]

Post Staff Report
Last updated: 7:38 pm
September 8, 2008
Posted: 3:22 pm
September 8, 2008

Tom Brady's season is officially over. The Patriots quarterback will have surgery to repair damage to his left knee and will be placed on injured reserve.

The first game the reigning NFL MVP will miss is this Sunday against the Jets at Giants Stadium.

After 24 hours of speculation, Patriots coach Bill Belichick confirmed the absolute worst news for the team at a press conference today. The injury was suffered during the Patriots' 17-10 win over the Chiefs yesterday when Brady was hit by Bernard Pollard.

"We feel badly for Tom about the injury," Belichick said. "You hate to see anyone go down. No one has worked harder or done more for this team than Tom has."

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The Patriots will turn to Matt Cassel for the immediate future. Cassel will make his first start since high school when Sunday at the Meadowlands.

"I have a lot of confidence in Matt and everyone else has to continue to do their job," Belichick said. "Matt did some good things (Sunday), certainly the 98-yard drive. He took care of the ball and made some good plays."

Cassel even subbed for Brady on his weekly radio show today.

"I'm not trying to be Tom Brady. I'm just trying to be Matt Cassel," he said. "I don't know where that's going to take us."

In a somber and nearly empty Patriots locker room, Brady's locker remained stocked with equipment and personal items.

"We're not going to tank it the rest of the season. That's not going to happen," defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. "There's always a way to win. We're not going to have a lot of excuses about it."

Offensive lineman Matt Light said, "The leadership on this team will take care of itself. I expect (Cassel) to do his job, and that's the same thing he expects from each one of us. There's nobody on this team that we don't have confidence in. You can't have a better mentor than Tom Brady."

Despite the advantage Brady's injury seems to give the Jets, now a 3-point favorite Sunday, Brett Favre was not happy with the news.

"That's terrible. Terrible," Favre said. "I guess it's an ACL or something. They've always overcome injuries and things like that, but that's pretty difficult, Tom Brady."

Belichick denied reports that Chris Simms and Tim Rattay would be working out for the Patriots, but said they would entertain other possibilities.

"Whatever our options are we will do what's best for our football team," Belichick said.

With AP

 

[Maple Leaf]

This is not just a blow to Brady's team but to the NFL in general. Last season, Brady's team, the New England Patriots, were the most viewed NFL team on television. White Americans loved to watch this man shoot out the lights. Without him, the NFL needs another white superstar to attract viewers.

I do not watch much of this stuff but I would presume that the spotlight is now going to be on that guy in Indianapolis: Payton Manning. These great white quarterbacks are what keeps selling the game to white Americans. I predict Indianapolis' games will be the most viewed this season.
Edited by: Maple Leaf

 

[white is right]

Who is on the street right now? We know Captain Stabbins err Stubins err Duante Culpepper is unemployed. Is my Cousin Vinny working with Bobby D? There really isn't much out there on short notice.....

 

[Tom Iron]

Don't cry for the Patriots. They're a real team. They're going to suck up the loss of Brady and play good all around football. They've still got the best coach in the NFL.

Tom Iron...

 

[Bart]

Don't cry for the Patriots. They're a real team. They're going to suck up the loss of Brady and play good all around football. They've still got the best coach in the NFL.

Tom Iron...

I'm not so sure. Yes, the coach is very good, but he is known as a defensive guru, primarily.I remember the big Colts playoff game a couple years ago, when the Pats were up 21-3(?)at half time, then lost because the D totally fell apart. Last years SB was a very tough game, but it was Tom Brady who rallied them in the fourth quarter,leading them in a do or die situation intto the end-zone with what, 1:20 or so left in the game? I hought it was over, so did Bruschi and Seau who were seen congratulating each other.


Unfortunately for them, the D couldn't hold, and they went down in flames. Brady is responsible for a lot more of the team's success than most people realize. Incidentally, as Brady was directing the critical drive, BB was not even watching the action, he was instructing the linebackers, as his back was turned totally away from the field. I don't think I've ever seen that before.If they hadn't scored it wouldn't have mattered what the D would do, as the game would have been over.He must have had extreme confidence in his QB. Edited by: Bart

 

[TorontoArgos]

Patriots will win the division with Cassel.

Mark my words.

 

[Thrashen]

"Patriots will win the division with Cassel.

Mark my words."


I think this too. Cassel reminds me of Brady in that he didnt play much in college, and was drafted very late (in the 7th round). He's also from California like Brady. Both are also 6' 4" and about 225 lbs and lanky.

As we all remember, this is exactly how Brady got his first start in the NFL. I know Cassel will lead them into the playoffs, and he'll be the best story of the season....hopefully he'll steal glory away from the Favre-mania that has swept over caste-retards like Tony Kornholer.Edited by: Thrashen

 

[jaxvid]

People forget that in the "old" days a QB understudied for a few years before being ready to run the offense. There was a long learning curve but it was considered natural. Nowadays a guys gotta produce in his first couple of games as a rookie or he's a bust. If a guy hasn't played much he's considered a bum. Cassell should be ready now and if given a chance he'll probably do well.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

TorontoArgos, Thrashen, and jaxvid...

i agree completely. although i didn't know about the apprenticeship thing from the "old" days. thanks for dropping the knowledge on me, jaxvid.

 

[Charlie]

No penalty on Pollard? He wasn't blocked into Brady. Pollard was already down and then he clearly went for the lower leg. I may be mistaken but you can't do that under the new rules.

 

[Freedom]

I agree, but I'm not gonna complain because the new rules are kind of ridiculous.

 

[Charlie]

From a marketing point of view the rules make sense. QBs handle the ball every non-kicking play. Generally they're smart and personable (and when they aren't, a la Ryan Leaf, they tend to not be needed any more despite any skills they possess). They give good interviews and can effectively do promos for their teams and for the league. They aren't bulked up monsters and tend to be human sized and proportioned.

Chicks of all ages know who Brady is. The same way they knew who Joe Namath and Joe Montana were.

And bam, one meaningless play later all that marketing firepower is standing on the sidelines.

Maybe the NFL should have flag football rules for tackling the QB. The under 30 demographic, which the NFL has trouble with, would not miss violence on the QB.

 

[Don Wassall]

The best news re Brady in quite some time:


Report: Brady expects to be ready


Last season's opener knocked Tom Brady out of football. He's hoping next season's launches his comeback.


Brady expects to be ready for the New England Patriots' first game of the 2009 season, the Boston Globe reported on Monday. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in last season's first game and has had multiple procedures and battled infection since then. There was some question whether he would be ready for the opener.


Brady is on pace with his rehabilitation and is even dropping back and throwing passes, a medical source told the Globe. Citing medical and NFL sources, the newspaper reported that no further procedures are scheduled on Brady's left knee.


"Based on anybody else doing an ACL rehab, he's going right along," a source said, according to the Globe. "He had a shaky start, but he's caught up."


The newspaper reported that Brady is throwing, running, doing drills and getting in shape. The source told the Globe that Brady still has some "laxity" in his medial collateral ligament, some stiffnes and has not recovered complete range of motion. None of those issues are unusual, however, considering the severity of his injury.


The Patriots are reportedly still considering using the franchise tag on quarterback Matt Cassel, who led the team to an 11-5 record last season.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3865269

 

[Thrashen]

The most anti-caste situation would certainly be if the Pats franchised Cassel, then traded him to a team like the Vikings or Tennessee where he replaced a black starter (Turdvaris Jackson) or an aging white vet with an afflete waiting the wings (Vince Young). The Pats would recieve several very high draft picks for Cassel. Also, perennial clown, Mel Kiper, is alreadysuggesting that the Pats will choose USC LB Brian Cushing the in first round. Hopefully that dope is correct for once.


Personally, I think Tom Brady is the best overall player in the NFL. I mean, my god, he was 1 play away (Tyree catch) from 4 SB rings in 7-8 seasons of work. Nobody here could argue that Brady isnt the most clutch QB to ever play (with Montana second).


Hopefully the Pats don't keep both these two stars, and Cassel is allowed to move on and win championships of his own. Either way, Matt is about to become a very rich man. He'll certainly be the most sought-after free agest this offseason. Good luck to both him and Brady this coming year.Edited by: Thrashen

 

[sport historian]

The June 1 issue of Sports Illustrated has a cover story about Tom Brady titled, "Tom Brady Is Back."

 

[Don Wassall]

The local sports section today has a big story on Brady's first day of training camp. There is a large picture of him about to throw the ball above the story. Contained within the copy is a much smaller picture of Brady holding a young black girl, who is identified as his niece. As always,a multicultural, miscegenation angle is found and played up.