Tom Brady Defined How a Backup QB Should Prepare Long Before the Shedeur Sanders Apology Industry Existed

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Let's say this with all due respect to Shedeur Sanders, who may very well end up having a good or even great NFL career. The scouts and war rooms have been very wrong, very many times before. NFL drafting is such an inexact science it's absurd to call it a science. And Sanders didn't event the art of falling in the draft and then falling on his face the first time he saw the field. Though he might have perfected it:

What makes him unique is the fact this 5th round, 4th string quarterback has come into the NFL with his own personal Apologist Industrial Complex:

Like I said in the Cam Newton blog, the reaction to Sanders' terrible debut might explain why he was drafted so low. That teams had him evaluated as a backup or long term project, and didn't feel it was worth the migraines of having to explain every step of the developmental process from journos who are invested in him and overrate his talent. And who will always blame the coaching staff every time things don't go according to their plans. No 5th rounder is worth burning those calories over. 

Though one 6th rounder would be. And while defending Sanders and attacking the Browns might make you feel good if you're one of those people who projected him to go to New Orleans with the 9th overall pick and thought he'd have a Figure-4 Leg Lock on Offensive Rookie of the Year by now if only the franchise that was smart enough to draft him wasn't too stupid to play him before now, it means forgetting one key point. 

Tom Brady exists. 

Sanders was the 6th QB selected in his draft. Brady was the 7th, one round and 55 picks later than Sanders was. He was 4th string on his team as a rookie, behind Michael Bishop, who a year later would be released. By a CFL team. And since Brady didn't have the luxury of playing for his father at Michigan, he had to fight for playing time there as well. At one point, he was behind Lloyd Carr's kid on the depth chart. At another point, he was losing playing time to Drew Henson. The reason being that George Steinbrenner, who did his graduate work at Ohio State, was trying to lure Henson to the Yankees by promising to promote him straight to the Majors, just to get him away from the Wolverines. So Carr was starting him, just to hang onto him. 

And a couple of years ago, Brady explained how he made the most of the few practice reps he was getting:

Source -  He was third string and feared he wasn’t getting the opportunity to show off his talents.

“I would complain all the time,” he said, “that the guys ahead of me were getting more opportunity than I was.”

“In practice, the starter would get 20 [repetitions]. The backup would get ten. And I would get two.”

So his coach had him talk with a sports psychologist at Michigan, Greg Harden.

“How can I ever get better? All these guys get all the reps and I only get two,” Brady told Harden. …

Harden said, “Just go in there and focus on the two that you’ve got. Make them as perfect as you possibly can.” …

“I’d sprint in there like it was Super Bowl XLIX. … It went from two reps to getting four reps because those two were pretty good,” Brady said. “Then I had four good reps, then I got ten good reps.”

He did what the greats do. He took his few, meager opportunities, maximized them, and earned more. Then made the most of those reps. And took that same approach to New England, where he started winning the coveted parking spot closest to the door that's reserved for the guy who put the most into the offseason program as a 4th string rookie. He didn't sulk. He didn't feel sorry for himself. He worked his ass off. He pushed through. He persevered. For sure he didn't have anyone in the national media going to bat for him like a Little League mom demanding to know why her precious little angel isn't the starting pitcher. No one knew he existed or cared, much less blamed Carr or Bill Belichick for not recognizing the gift God had bestowed upon them. Brady was all on his own.

The ironic part of his story is that had he been handed the Michigan QB1 job, maybe he would never have become the GOAT. Perhaps he wouldn't have gotten that advice from the sports psychologist that became his wake up call and changed his whole approach. And the whole trajectory of his life. 

Which is another thing the Sanders apologists are missing. Adversity is good. Challenges make you stronger. Overcoming obstacles teaches you that you can overcome obstacles. In a much more profound and permanent way than having your father anoint you as his QB1 and get fawning coverage in the national media. As Bane put it to Bruce Wayne, "Peace has cost you your strength! Victory has defeated you!" 

And in the case of Sanders, maybe getting his humbled by his experience in the draft and having to fight for playing time is exactly what he needs to unlock his talents and reach his full potential. If that turns out to be the case, he and all his stans will look back and thank Kevin Stefanski for the way this has all gone down. As a shameless fanboy of Brady and Belichick, I can assure you it's happened before.