Hit That Sparked Tom Brady's Career Nearly Killed Drew Bledsoe

Twenty years ago, Mo Lewis hit then-Patriots starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe with all the force of a Mack truck plowing through an interstate deer. Not only did this fateful hit launch Tom Brady's career, but it nearly turned Bledsoe into roadkill.

Now, two decades later, Bledsoe told Dan Patrick that “if (doctors) let me go home, I would’ve died."

Bledsoe discussed the hit in depth during a spot on Thursday's The Dan Patrick Show.

The Patriots were trailing the Jets by a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a September divisional game when Bledsoe scrambled right with his eyes on a first down. Before the quarterback could save himself by way of the sideline, Lewis greeted his upper body with all the tenderness of a Stone Cold Stunner.

Somehow, the former first-overall pick reentered the game, albeit briefly.

“I remember laying there on the sidelines and getting up, and going back in the game,” Bledsoe told Patrick. “I certainly wasn’t all there. I had a pretty serious concussion in addition to the internal stuff.”

Minutes later, while on the sideline, teammates noticed Bledsoe wasn't himself and urged team doctors to keep him from going back into the game. Keeping Bledsoe sidelined and then preventing him from heading home ultimately saved his life.

“After the game, I tried to go home. Thankfully, the doctors didn’t let me do that. If they let me go home, I would’ve died," said Bledsoe. "I was bleeding out about a liter an hour internally. By the time they got me to the hospital, I was out, and they took a lot of blood out of my body. Thankfully they were able to recycle my blood and put it back in, so they didn’t have to open my chest up, but it was pretty touch-and-go for a while.”

Bledsoe may not have lost his life that day, but he did ultimately lose his job as the starter. His replacement, Brady, may now have seven Super Bowl rings, but Bledsoe is just grateful he lived to tell the tale.

 

 

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