Bill Polian says Colts had first-round grade on Tom Brady

<![CDATA[Let's face it, Tom Brady looked and dressed like a kid who often was beaten up for his lunch money at the 2000 NFL scouting combine.

Apparently the Colts looked past that and liked him anyway.

Former Colts general manager Bill Polian, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, said that the Colts had a first-round grade on Brady, according to USA Today.

It’s easy for Polian to say that now, although he didn’t say it out of the blue. He was asked who the Colts would have drafted in those days if they didn’t have Peyton Manning, who in 2000 was coming off his first Pro Bowl season. Since the Colts did have Manning, they weren’t looking for a quarterback and that’s one of the reasons Brady was still available in the sixth round when the Patriots took him with the 199th pick.

The Patriots had Drew Bledsoe, but they were coming off a 5-11 season and his passer rating was 77.3. In hindsight, they needed a quarterback more than the 13-3 Colts did and it’s hard to imagine they had a first-round grade on Brady if they let him slide to the sixth round.

This opens up the possibility, then, that the Colts liked Brady better than the Patriots did.

That’s a deflating thought for Colts fans five Patriots championships and four playoff wins over the Colts later.]]>

Arrow to top