Testaverde signs with Patriots: Brady era finally over

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, November 15, 2006  |  Comments( 12 )

New England Patriots
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Clearly bowing to loudly suffering New England Patriots fans that have finally had enough of Tom Brady and his losing ways, Bill Belichick is turning to Vinny Testaverde.

Testaverde, an old favorite of Belichick's since those glory days of the legendary 1994 Cleveland Browns, was a natural to join the three-time champs and possibly snap the team's recent disastrous losing streak. Clearly realizing that the current nose dive in the AFC standings must stop immediately should the Patriots have any chance of a fourth consecutive playoff appearance, team brass decided Testaverde's steady hand was just the thing and signed him to a contract the day after his birthday.

(Sure, he's 43. But it's a young 43.)

Though switching starting QBs midseason is a dangerous maneuver at best -- for everyone fears the dreaded "quarterback controversy" -- those who have seen Brady's recent play (and this includes the entire six-state demographic known as New England) need no further convincing. But let's look at some stats, anyway.

Since the win at the Minnesota Vikings, Brady has thrown five interceptions against one TD and has produced a pitiful quarterback rating of 68.98. And the win against the Vikes? That was last month.

But that's just on the current losing streak, which has left the Patriots winless in November. At 6-3, New England's .666 winning percentage is well below the .764 mark the team has compiled since Brady became the starter. At his current "pace," Brady will set a career high for interceptions (16) and a career low for completion percentage (59.2) in 2006.

Taking over at the helm with the assurance of a 19-year-veteran is the man known as Vinterception, for whom the case is great. As though future argument would be needed for a guy who set a record last year for most consecutive seasons throwing a TD pass, consider that the man is in the top 10 all-time in pass attempts, completions, passing yards and TD passes. Meanwhile, Pro-Football-Reference.com tells me that "Tom Brady is not in the all-time top 50 in any major category." And don't forget that, unlike a certain sixth-round draft pick taken by the Patriots years ago, Testaverde went Numero Uno; he became the highest paid player in the NFL and got to wear that natty orange Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey.

Ironically, the Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre just passed Testaverde in pursuit of George Blanda's all-time mark for career interceptions; could Vinny have come back to go for the top spot? This particular race for immortality will take one giant leap forward on Sunday with Vinterception's guys taking on the Pack. Favre needs just 16 more picks to pass Blanda; Testaverde, 17.

And no one - least of all Belichick, who surely gives the season a prominent place in his personal inner career highlight clip collection - can ever forget Testaverde leading the Browns to the AFC championship in 1994? Or the New York Jets to the same in 1998?

During his reign with the Patriots, it has been uncharacteristic of Belichick to make such hair-trigger moves. However, this one may have been some time in coming. Brady has been listed as just "probable" on the injury report for 26 straight regular-season games, leading many to believe that the QB is actually nursing an undisclosed injury. Very revealing was the coach's comment during the Monday press conference that Brady may not be at peak health: "There probably isn't a player in the league that plays every week that's 100 percent today. [Brady]'s probably in that category."

Numbers and psychology aside, Vinny Testaverde is now officially a Patriot and Patriots fans are happy to have him. Belichick has yet to announce who his starter will be on Sunday, but this acquisition is a clear signal of change, isn't it? Maybe now today's culture of losing will depart this once-mighty New England franchise.

See if Vinny Testaverde can turn things around for the New England Patriots at RealFootball365.com
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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