You Don't See Drew Henson on The Simpsons!

Another Super Bowl, another Patriots win, another feather in Tom Brady's cap. It's enought to make a Michigan alumus proud.

I can't prove it to you except to ask you to talk to anyone I hung out with back around 2000, but watching Brady at Michigan, I had a gut feeling he was going to be a great pro QB. I can't say I would have predicted 3 Super Bowl victories, but I knew he would be something special. This guy had guts, poise, and an ability to come from behind that I hadn't seen in many Michigan QBs.

The problem was, I don't think Brady ever got a real fair shake at Michigan, thanks to an overrated player named Drew Henson. Because Henson came in with "Michigan Legend" written all over him, he was pretty much given a free pass. Brady's stellar play was the only thing that kept Henson from being given the job outright. Note that I said "given," not "earned." As it was, for the first half of the football season, Brady played the 1st quarter, Henson played the 2nd, and the better performer played the second half. More often than not, it was Brady. In fact, the one time I remember Henson getting the second half nod (against Michigan State), Brady ended up being put back in the game in the 4th quarter and nearly rallied the team from behind to win.

Brady eventually was given the full time job. Some, including me, would say the decision was much too late in the season and likely cost them the outright Big Ten championship that year. But despite that, Brady found himself at the helm of the second best bowl game that year (the Orange Bowl) and once again rallied the team to an OT victory against a powerhouse Alabama team featuring a pretty good running back named Shaun Alexander.

Still, even though Brady never got a real fair shake, in some way that adversity of fending off "The Chosen One" is probably responsible for shaping Brady's personality and making him the player he is today. And he certainly has the last laugh with all his success. As for Henson, the best he ever did for Michigan was to beat Ohio State. He left early to play Major League Baseball, and after a failed stint with the Yankees, he finally got his first start for Dallas on Thanksgiving Day 2004. He was yanked from the game by halftime.

So much for potential.