Mo Lewis blames Drew Bledsoe for hit that started Patriots dynasty

Former Jets linebacker Mo Lewis seemingly by no means has to purchase a beer in New England ever once more. 

It was Lewis who not directly orchestrated the beginning of the Patriots’ two-decade dynasty on Sept. 23, 2001 — when he crushed then-Patriots beginning quarterback Drew Bledsoe as he scrambled alongside the sideline and tried to get out of bounds. 

Sluggish to stand up from the bone-crunching hit, Bledsoe was finally transported to the hospital because of the important accidents he suffered. Bledsoe’s lung had collapsed from the hit, whereas he additionally suffered from a number of inside bleeding after he sheared a blood vessel in his chest.

“If he’d have been on his approach residence, he would have both died within the automobile accident when he misplaced consciousness, or he would’ve died from the blood loss,” Bledsoe’s father, Mac, said in an “E:60” episode in February 2020.

The hit from Lewis each modified the trajectory of Bledsoe’s profession and the fortunes of the Patriots’ franchise. 

With Bledsoe sidelined, the Patriots turned to unheralded backup Tom Brady to complete out the remainder of the sport. Brady didn’t lose the beginning job the remainder of the season, with New England going 11-3 with Brady that yr en path to an underdog triumph in Tremendous Bowl XXXVI in opposition to the Rams. 

Bledsoe — who did step in at QB for the Patriots throughout the AFC Championship Recreation in opposition to the Steelers — was finally traded the next offseason after New England’s Tremendous Bowl title, whereas Brady went on to win one other 5 Tremendous Bowls because the Patriots’ beginning QB. 

However Lewis — breaking his silence in a soon-to-be-released guide — mentioned that the hit that modified the course of NFL historical past falls on Bledsoe and his choice to run with the ball. 

“[Bledsoe] simply signed a $100 million deal to be what kind of quarterback? A passing quarterback, appropriate?” Lewis says in “Brady vs. Belichick,” written by longtime NFL reporter Gary Myers — as noted by ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “Had he not received exterior the pocket and ran with the ball, would we be speaking about this? Who triggered the occasion? The one who was with the ball.

“Now he’s doing what he didn’t join. He signed as much as be a passing quarterback. What do I do? I cease the individuals with the ball. It’s simply one other play for me. However it’s a distinct play for him.”

Whereas Lewis is probably finest identified for his hit on Bledsoe, he was an completed participant in his personal proper — as he earned three Professional Bowl nods and two All-Professional alternatives over the span of his 13-year NFL profession with the Jets. 

“It’s actually irrelevant to me,” Lewis mentioned of the affect of his hit on Bledsoe “It was simply one other play to me. To you all, it’s an enormous game-changing, history-changing play. I’ve by no means gone again to look at the play. If individuals need to speak about it, I don’t conceal from it. However it has no significance to me.”

 

Conor Ryan is a workers author overlaying the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Pink Sox for Boston.com, a task he has held since 2023.