Twenty years ago, the New England Patriots drafted quarterback Tom Brady in the sixth round with the 199th overall selection. Brady has an NFL-record six Super Bowl rings, one for every quarterback drafted ahead of him in 2000.
The last quarterback drafted in 2000 was Joe Hamilton — the Georgia Tech product was picked 234th overall by the Buccaneers. Hamilton was runner-up in the 1999 Heisman voting behind Ron Dayne, but his NFL career consisted of no passing attempts and one rushing attempt for minus-2 yards. In other words, Tampa Bay was 20 years too late on Brady.
The only starting quarterback besides Brady to win an AFC East title since 2001 is Chad Pennington — in 2002 with the New York Jets and 2008 with the Miami Dolphins.
Here are some of the worst draft moves this century:
2000: Thirty teams pass on Tom Brady
Hear that? Yup, that’s the collective groan of the 30 teams that passed on Brady. The Texans are the only team grinning — they came into the league in 2002. It must be especially frustrating for the Jets, 49ers, Ravens, Steelers, Saints and Browns, who all took quarterbacks ahead of Brady in 2000.