Former New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis says former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, not him, is responsible for the hit that led to Tom Brady’s rise and the Patriots dynasty.
In a recent interview with ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Lewis broke a long silence on the subject and pointed directly at Bledsoe’s decision-making as the true catalyst.
“[Bledsoe] just signed a $100 million deal to be what type of quarterback? A passing quarterback, correct?” Lewis said in Brady vs. Belichick, a book by longtime NFL reporter Gary Myers. “Had he not got outside the pocket and ran with the ball, would we be talking about this? Who caused the event? The person who was with the ball.”
Jets LB Mo Lewis’ hit sidelined Drew Bledsoe and set stage for Tom Brady’s Patriots dynasty
The play occurred on Sept. 23, 2001, late in a game won by the Jets 10-3. Bledsoe, never known for his mobility, attempted to scramble for a first down when Lewis delivered a crushing blow along the sideline. The hit tore a blood vessel in Bledsoe’s chest, causing internal bleeding that nearly killed him in the ambulance.
The injury ended Bledsoe’s run as New England’s starter. At the time, he was one of the NFL’s most productive passers, earning four Pro Bowl selections and throwing for more than 44,000 yards over a 14-year career. He led the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXI in 1997, where they fell to the Green Bay Packers, and twice ranked among the league leaders in passing yards. Just months before the 2001 season, New England had signed him to a 10-year, $103 million contract — one of the richest deals in league history at the time.
Instead, the injury opened the door for Brady, a sixth-round pick in 2000 who had attempted only three passes before taking over. Brady went on to lead New England to six Super Bowl championships, add a seventh with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, claim three league MVP awards, and finish his career as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards, completions, and touchdowns. His emergence transformed the Patriots into a dynasty under Bill Belichick, with 17 division titles and nine Super Bowl appearances in his tenure.
Lewis downplays historic hit, calling it just another play despite its lasting impact
Lewis, a three-time Pro Bowler and 1998 All-Pro, insists the hit was simply part of his job.
“Now he’s doing what he didn’t sign up for. He signed up to be a passing quarterback,” Lewis said. “What do I do? I stop the people with the ball. It’s just another play for me. But it’s a different play for him.”
Lewis added that he never dwelled on the aftermath.
“It’s really irrelevant to me,” he said. “It was just another play to me. To you all, it’s a big game-changing, history-changing play. I’ve never gone back to watch the play. If people want to talk about it, I don’t hide from it. But it has no importance to me.”
Lewis, who retired after the 2003 season, emphasized that he had no knowledge of Bledsoe’s condition at the time.
“I’m not trying to be an a–hole,” he said. “I’m on the field. I’m not a doctor. I do not know the severity of that hit. It was just another hit. I’m a linebacker. I make tackles.”
As part of the NFL’s 100th season celebration in 2019, Lewis was ranked No. 82 among the league’s top 100 game changers, a nod to the play that forever altered the course of two franchises.
“He was the guy that actually started Tom Brady’s career,” Herm Edwards, the Jets coach during that game, said in Myers’ book.
