If you scan through Tom Brady's resume and look at all of his career accomplishments and awards, everything on it screams 1st overall pick. However, as every football fan knows by now, that’s not the case for the former Michigan Wolverine.
The 39-year-old quarterback was selected 199th overall in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. Clearly, not many scouts expected him to be anything special and certainly didn’t think he had what it took to be an everyday starter in the NFL, but Brady has done nothing but prove them all very, very wrong over the course of his 17-year career.
Aside from his 183 regular season victories, Brady has a postseason record of 24-9 and has appeared in more playoff games than any other quarterback in the history of the league. In fact, Brady has more playoff victories than these former 1st round picks had/have during their entire career.
Ryan Leaf
Ryan Leaf is going to go down as one of the biggest draft busts in the history of the NFL. Selected 2nd overall in the 1998 NFL Draft, he only made it through three NFL seasons and won just four games during that span and posted a career record of 4-17.
Tim Couch
The Cleveland Browns kept the trend going the following season when they selected Tim Couch first overall in the 1999 NFL Draft, allowing the Philadelphia Eagles to select Donovan McNabb with the next pick. Couch spent his entire career with the Browns, so it’s no surprise that won just 22 games in five seasons.
David Carr
David Carr was the first ever starting quarterback for the Houston Texans and the first ever draft pick in franchise history after he was selected by the team in the 2002 draft. The older brother of Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, David is going to go down as one of the worst first overall picks in NFL history. In his 10-year career, he finished with a record of 23-56. As for his brother, he already has 22 career wins through three seasons.
Blaine Gabbert
Blaine Gabbert was the first of two first-round quarterback busts to be selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Selected 10th overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Gabbert spent just three seasons with the Jags, before becoming a member of the 49ers. Since 2011, Gabbert’s record is 9-31.
Christian Ponder
Christian Ponder was the second of two first-round quarterback busts to be selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 12th overall pick, Ponder has just 14 victories since making his NFL debut in 2011.
Robert Griffin III
RG3 was supposed to be the Washington Redskins’ saviour when he was selected 2nd overall by the team in the 2012 draft, but a lot of injuries have taken his flare away. Now a member of the Cleveland Browns, Griffin has won just 15 career games after going 9-6 in his rookie campaign. The Indianapolis Colts certainly avoided looking foolish by sticking with Andrew Luck first overall that year.
It’s not every year a future Hall of Famer gets selected in the late rounds of the draft, but Brady is a prime example as to why draft rankings and where you get selected doesn’t matter, it’s what you do after the draft that matters.
