Way back when Tom Brady and Drew Henson were playing college football at my beloved alma mater, I used to angrily complain about how overrated Henson was, and how Brady, an obviously gifted quarterback, was shafted by Lloyd Carr's half-assed two-quarterback system. I am convinced, to this day, that Carr's indecisiveness led to a lot of losses in what could have been an excellent season. Carr was likely caving to (what I feel) was ignorant fan pressure, combined with a fear that Henson would leave the team to play baseball with the Yankees if he didn't get enough playing time -- he ended up doing this anyway. For some reason, people were almost psychotically enamored of Henson, for no really good reason. I was always under the impression that he gained so much attention due to the fact that he was also a professional baseball player, having been signed by the Yankees -- this was sort of a novelty. He was also pretty good in high school, but then, so were a lot of bad college football players, something most people forget.
Nothing could possibly prove I was correct better than the extremely divergent paths their careers have taken since they left the University of Michigan. Let's review:
- Tom Brady: After a mere four seasons in the NFL, he has led his New England Patriots to two Super Bowl victories and been named Super Bowl MVP both times.
- Drew Henson: Not so much. Sure, he got a pile of cash to leave football behind and play baseball (George Steinbrenner paid him an extra $20 million to forgo his football career altogether), but his lackluster performance in minor league baseball has led the Yankees to weasel out of their deal with him early. Henson is now slinking off to the NFL, where he'll likely be signed by Houston, who gained his rights in the draft a while back, who will likely immediately trade him. I'm willing to bet his NFL career will come closer to mirroring his pro baseball career as opposed to Brady's NFL career.
But that's just what I think.
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