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Just Like Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady Was Also ‘Neglected’ by Several Teams on Draft Day, But Due to Very Contrasting Reasons

Shubham Bhargav
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Tom Brady and Kobe Bryant

Tom Brady is undoubtedly one of the finest quarterbacks to ever bless the game of football. After all, not many quarterbacks have won more Super Bowl titles than any single franchise in the history of the competition. However, back in 2000, when Tom had registered for the NFL draft, not many teams had shown interest in roping him in. As it turns out, even NBA legend Kobe Bryant was passed on by as many as 12 teams during the 1996 NBA draft.

At best, Brady was being looked upon as a backup quarterback by the franchises during the 2000 draft. As a result, after hours of excruciating wait, Tom was picked up in the sixth round by the New England Patriots as the 199th overall pick. The champion QB was passed on by as many as 30 teams. On the other hand, Kobe Bryant was also passed on by a dozen NBA teams, before he was finally picked by the Charlotte Hornets. However, the two superstars were picked late in their respective drafts due to very contrasting reasons.

Tom Brady & Kobe Bryant were neglected by several teams in their respective drafts

Teams like San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and even Cleveland Browns had picked quarterbacks during the 2000 draft before the Patriots decided to rope Brady in as a backup. To be fair, Tom didn’t come into the draft with a great reputation.

He didn’t do well at the NFL scouting combine and although the QB was able to post good numbers towards the end of his college career, Brady was never really able to send shockwaves around footballing circuits with his performances at the University of Michigan. Hence, he was picked very-very late in the draft.

On the other hand, Kobe was able to gain superstar status at a very young age by delivering unforgettable performances for Lower Merion High School. Moreover, after the Black Mamba was named the Pennsylvania Player of The Year, several colleges had approached him.

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However, 17-year-old Kobe decided to register directly for the NBA draft after finishing school. This is where things got a little tricky as the 1996 draft class was stacked with superstars. This is why, several teams were hesitant in using their lottery picks to rope in a 17-year-old. While it was lack of fame and success in his early days which prevented Brady from going big in the draft, in Bryant’s case, because he had decided to enter the draft after gaining superstar status in his High School days only, a few teams were hesitant in going after the teenager.

Michael Jordan-owned Charlotte Hornets committed one of the costliest trade mistakes ever

From Allen Iverson to Vitaly Potapenko, a total of 12 players were drafted before Kobe Bryant in 1996. Eventually, the Hornets got him in. However, in a bid to rope in Value Divac, the Hornets traded Kobe to the Los Angeles Lakers and the rest, as they say, is history.

Kobe earned regular season MVP honors in 2008 and went on to win as many as 5 championships for Los Angeles. The 2x NBA finals MVP well and truly proved that the Hornets made a massive error by letting him go. The Michael Jordan-owned NBA team hasn’t won a single championship till date.

Looking at all this, it would be fair to say that while letting go of an extremely confident 17-ear-old might have sounded like a good idea in 1996, it turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes in Hornets’ history.

About the author

Shubham Bhargav

Shubham Bhargav

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Shubham is the NFL division head at the Sports Rush. He can write and talk about NFL all day without breaking a sweat. A Communications post-graduate with 4+ years of experience in Sports Journalism, Shubham can be tough to stop once he starts talking about the nuances of his favorite sport. He enjoys movies, likes trekking, adores re-watching unorthodox plays and wants to interview Patrick Mahomes at least once in his life.

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