April 16 is an important day for the New England Patriots.
In addition to being Bill Belichick’s birthday, it also marks the day the Patriots drafted the greatest player in the history of their franchise: Tom Brady.
Not even the Patriots themselves could have imagined what was to come when they used the 199th overall pick to select Brady in the 2000 NFL Draft. Brady didn’t exactly look the part of a star signal-caller at the NFL Scouting Combine months prior, as seen in the now-iconic photo the 41-year-old dug up Tuesday to celebrate his draft anniversary.
19 years ago today the @patriots took a chance on the guy in this photo: Me (199) 😂. Thank you to EVERYONE who’s helped me to prove them right!
Also, did they stop taking these photos after mine?? 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/qxBoCc0F1H
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) April 16, 2019
Yeah, we don’t think Brady was abiding by the TB12 method back then.
On the topic of drafts, the Patriots are less than two weeks away from bringing in a new wave of players hoping to make an impact on the franchise. The 2019 NFL Draft kicks off April 25 in Nashville, Tenn.
