The draft is a time when teams either help themselves or hurt themselves. Picks like JaMarcus Russell will hurt a team while teams have moments of brilliance such as the Tom Brady pick. For most people a new year is a milestone and what is a bigger milestone then the year 2000? Nothing, right. The parties go on all day and night as humans celebrate the New Year. But the biggest part happened during the turn of the century. Ok, now you are confused! What does the NFL Draft have anything to do with New Year's and the year 2000? Well, the New Century brought change and hope for many people. While ordinary, dedicated humans who had kept their resolution were still in the gym trying to lose that last pound so were draft prospects. They were in the gym trying to build their draft stock and with every lift of the weight they moved closer to NFL glory. Or so they thought. No one person can predict the future, not even NFL big wigs. But many people can reflect on the past and that is what I am doing. I will reflect on the 2000 NFL Draft and try to redo the draft 11 years later. Best 2000 NFL Draft Picks 1. Tom Brady- The second coming of Montana would go on to be a 6× Pro Bowl selection, a 2× First-team All-Pro selection, a 3× Super Bowl champion, a 2× Super Bowl MVP and a Sportsman of the Year. Brady not only changed the NFL but changed sports. It was a major steal for the Patriots that took him in the 6th round. 2. Brian Urlacher- Getting Urlacher at 9th was a minor steal for the Bears. But he is a great draft pick not because of his draft position but because he is a 7× Pro Bowl selection that has won Defensive Player and Rookie of the year awards. He is an animal that holds the Chicago Bears season tackles record as well as the Bears career tackles leader. 3. John Abraham- While many people won't agree with Abraham at 3 there is no denying that he did have a better career then most people picked before him. The Jets picked him up at lucky number 13 in the first round. Since then Abraham has been a 4× Pro Bowl selection and a 3× All-Pro selection. Also, on December 12, 2010, Abraham recorded two sacks against the Carolina Panthers. The two sacks gave him 100.5 for his career, making him only the 25th player in NFL history to get more than 100. 4. Shaun Alexander- This former Madden cover boy was selected with the 19th pick by the Seahawks. Alexander also became the first Seahawks player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated as well as becoming the first Seahawk to win the MVP award. He also led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl appearance where they lost to the mighty Steelers. He retired with 112 career touchdowns as well as a 3× Pro Bowl selection, a 2× All-Pro selection, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2005), a part of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and a holder of countless records. 5. Jamal Lewis- Minus his personal problems the 5th draft pick gave the Ravens everything they wanted and more! In 2003, Lewis nearly set a new NFL single-season rushing record by rushing for 2,066 yards, leading the league. He fell just 39 yards short of the all time single season rushing record, which remains Eric Dickerson's 2,105 yards in 1984. Lewis joined Dickerson, Terrell Davis, Chris Johnson, Barry Sanders, and O.J. Simpson as the only backs in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season. He also was a Super Bowl champion, a Pro Bowl selection, an All-Pro selection, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2003), a part of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and the 10,000 Rushing Yards Club. Worst 2000 NFL Draft Picks1. Courtney Brown- The number 1 draft pick was a bust. When the Browns drafted someone number 1 they expected him to be a great player and while Brown was good he just didn't live up to the hype. Brown retired in 2006 recording just 156 tackles. He had a decent rookie year but the rest of his career was plagued by injures. 2. The Brady 6- Chad Pennington (18, Jets), Giovanni Carmazzi (65, 49ers), Chris Redman (75, Ravens), Tee Martin (163, Steelers), Marc Bulger (168, Saints) and Spergon Wynn (183, Browns) share many things in common. Two of those are that they didn't have great NFL careers and that they were all picked before Tom Brady. The teams that picked these six quarterbacks before Brady probably are kicking themselves right now. Brady had a better career then all these players combined and that is why they are all busts. 3. Peter Warrick- This wide receiver was taken fourth overall by the Bengals, Warrick had a couple of decent seasons in his first contract, but never came close to living up to his draft position. In his first 3 seasons with the Bengals, Warrick never gained more than 667 receiving yards. In 2004 he was replaced by T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Houshmandzadeh never looked back. Warrick now plays in the indoor football league. 4. Jay Soward- The Jaguars selected this wide receiver with the 29th pick. He lasted just one season. His drug problems finally cost him and he was suspended several times by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He has not filed for re-instatement since his last suspension. He has criticized the NFL, being the 29th draft pick, the NFL's substance abuse program and has been a giant bust. 5. Ron Dayne- This running back was selected as the 11th overall pick from by the New York Giants. He had an all right rookie year but since then has been pretty bad. In the NFL, he never rushed for over 770 yards in a season. He has not played football since 2007. Now How the Draft Should Have Went1. Cleveland Browns- Selected Courtney Brown, DE Penn State Should Have Selected QB Tom Brady, Michigan 2. Washington Redskins- Selected LaVar Arrington, LB Penn State Should Have Selected LB Brian Urlacher,New Mexico 3. Washington Redskins- Selected Chris Samuels, OT Alabama Should Have Selected DE Shaun Ellis, Tennessee 4.Cincinnati Bengals- Selected Peter Warrick, WR Florida State Should Have Selected RB Shaun Alexander, Alabama 5. Baltimore Ravens- Selected Jamal Lewis, RB Tennessee Should Have Selected RB Jamal Lewis, Tennessee 6. Philadelphia Eagles- Selected Corey Simon, DT Florida State Should Have Selected LB/DE John Abraham, South Carolina 7. Arizona Cardinals- Selected Thomas Jones, RB Virginia Should Have Selected WR Plaxico Burress, Michigan State 8. Pittsburgh Steelers- Selected Plaxico Burress, WR Michigan State Should Have Selected OT Chris Samuels, Alabama 9. Chicago Bears- Selected Brian Urlacher, LB New Mexico Should Have Selected RB Thomas Jones, Virginia 10. Baltimore Ravens- Selected Travis Taylor, WR Florida Should Have Selected WR Laveranues Coles, Florida State Be sure to comment your ideas! I would love to hear from you.
You must love Tom Brady, dont you? I see what your saying, and I agree with you on some points. But the reason Tom is so good is because he didn't have to step in and be "The Man" If he was the Browns pick, he would've ended up like Tim Couch, who they drafted in 1999. And How can you justified drafting 2 QB's with the first pick in back to back years?
haha i also see what u r saying but the draft is about selecting the best talent and you cant argue with brady's talent, there is the argument that Brady would bust without the guidence of belichick and i get that but couch was not the saviour of the browns and though they didnt need a qb they could have used brady for example once brady has proven himslef they trade couch and tim couch is worth some trade value, then they build a team around brady and the browns become a good team, thats just one scenario though
When a head coach cant decide between Drew freaking Henson and Tom Jesus Brady, I think you can argue about talent.
When a college quarterback leads a team to win the Big Ten Conference title, the Citrus Bowl and the Orange Bowl where he threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns you can argue he has talent. When a player is rated #21 NFL Player of all-time by NFL.com you can argue he has talent. When someone is the only quarterback to start and win 3 Super Bowls before his 28th birthday you can argue about talent. When Tom Brady has the most passing touchdowns in the regular season and post season combined he has talent. When a player has 3 Super Bowl victories and 2 Super Bowl MVP awards you can argue about talent. When Drew Hensen has 1 nfl touchdown and Tom Brady has 261 it is clear who has more talent.
