Seventh on the Michigan depth chart

Brady arrived in Ann Arbor in the summer of 1995 listed seventh on the depth chart. Head coach Lloyd Carr told him he was free to transfer if he didn’t get reps, but Brady stayed and worked with sports psychologist Greg Harden — a relationship he later credited with reshaping his approach to competition.

He sat behind Brian Griese (1996–97 starter, eventual Rose Bowl MVP and Pro Bowler) and split 1998 reps with five-star recruit Drew Henson. By his senior year (1999), Brady had earned the full job and led Michigan to a 35–34 overtime win over Alabama in the Orange Bowl, throwing for 369 yards.

The 2000 NFL Draft slide

Brady’s combine numbers were famously underwhelming: 5.28-second 40-yard dash, 24.5″ vertical, 6’4″ but only 211 lbs with a soft-looking frame. Six quarterbacks went ahead of him: Chad Pennington (#18), Giovanni Carmazzi (#65), Chris Redman (#75), Tee Martin (#163), Marc Bulger (#168), and Spergon Wynn (#183).

New England GM Bobby Grier and director of player personnel Dick Rehbein had Brady graded much higher than the consensus, but the Patriots already had Drew Bledsoe entrenched. They took him in the sixth round as a developmental project. The story is now mythologized — every team that passed has been dissected — but at the time he was a fourth-string preseason camp arm.

A Michigan QB lineage

Brady is the second Wolverines quarterback to win an NFL MVP (Jim Harbaugh’s NFL career didn’t reach that level; the other was Drew Brees… actually no — Brees went to Purdue). The Michigan-to-NFL pipeline is more historically known for Tom Harmon, Rick Leach, and Brian Griese before Brady. After Brady, no Michigan QB has matched the trajectory.

Brady remains active in Ann Arbor — he donated to the Michigan football facility named after his college position coach, and his charity work routes through Ann Arbor as well as the Boston area.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Tom Brady and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records. Lead image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).