With the 2020 NFL Draft finally here, there is plenty of speculation regarding the potential sleepers that will be available in the late rounds. The San Francisco 49ers are hoping not to make the same mistake they did the 2000 NFL Draft. That would be when they — along with the rest of the NFL — passed on quarterback Tom Brady 198 times.
Brady's illustrious career stemmed from humble beginnings as an overlooked quarterback prospect in the draft. NFL analyst and then-head coach of the 49ers Steve Mariucci recalled the reasoning behind their choice to take quarterback Gio Carmazzi on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access”:
“I get asked this every year. Twenty years, ‘Why did you pass on Tom Brady?’ Mariucci said.” “You know what? Here’s what happened: We wanted to play football like we did with Steve Young. Have you heard of him? We wanted to have that athletic quarterback that can run around and do those things. Gio Carmazzi was one of those athletic quarterbacks. Smart guy, athletic, 4.7 (40-yard dash), all that kind of thing. Tom was in a different category.”
Mariucci's comments are indicative of how the rest of the NFL's scouting departments felt at the time. After all, six quarterbacks had been taken off the board by the time Brady heard his name called by the New England Patriots.
Although teams had no way of knowing that Brady would become the most decorated player in NFL history. It is still more than enough to keep coaches and general managers up at night to this day. Carmazzi quickly floundered under center in San Francisco and Mariucci followed soon thereafter.
The tale just goes to show the importance of taking intangibles into consideration as opposed to just the physical attributes. Especially when it comes to picking a quarterback. It will be interesting to see which payer is able to establish themselves as the NFL's next great hidden gem.
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