The New England Patriots gave their franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe a $10-year, $103 million in March 2001. He was only 29, and Patriots owner Bob Kraft paid him to deliver Lombardi Trophies.
Bledsoe started two games that season before suffering a ruptured blood vessel in his chest in Week 2. He went to the hospital and Tom Brady went to the field. Bledsoe returned eight games later but coach Bill Belichick had already moved on. Brady went 5-2 in Bledsoe's absence and the Patriots decided to stick with him.
The rest, as they say, is history. Brady took the Patriots to their first Super Bowl championship that season. Fifteen years later, Brady still sits atop the quarterbacking depth chart at New England, now with four Super Bowl rings. An injury also ended Joe Montana's Hall of Fame run as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. Steve Young replaced him in the huddle in 1991 and never gave the job back.
Injuries are the great equalizer in the NFL. One man's misfortune can become another man's good fortune.
An August injury has sent Tony Romo to the Dallas Cowboys sideline. Again. This will be the fourth consecutive season he has missed time because of an assortment of back and shoulder injuries. He figures to miss 6-10 weeks with a compressed fracture of a vertebrae suffered last week at Seattle, according to a source.
Rookie Dak Prescott inherits the Dallas offense. He will not be merely keeping the seat warm for Romo. He'll be auditioning for the job. Everyone expected Brady to give the job back. He didn't. Everyone expected Young to give the job back. He didn't. The stage has now been set for Dak.
Romo is 36. He's now made of glass. Every time he takes a hit the franchise gasps. His health holds the Cowboys hostage. He goes down and the franchise wilts, as we saw last season. The drafting of Prescott was an effort by the Cowboys to finally establish a plan of succession at the quarterback position. Romo wasn't getting any younger. Or any healthier.
Prescott showed the Cowboys everything they wanted to see from him this summer-accuracy, mobility, charisma, poise, precision and swagger. He has thrown five TD passes and rushed for two more scores with no turnovers this preseason. His 137.8 passer efficiency rating leads all NFL quarterbacks who have thrown at least 20 passes this preseason.
The Cowboys don't need Prescott to necessarily claim the position during his spin this fall as the starter. But the Cowboys need him to play well enough to force coach Jason Garrett to make a hard decision. Prescott looms as the franchise's future. Now he needs to showcase himself as the club's present. He's everything Romo is not-young, healthy and cheap.
Prescott could represent stability at the position. The health of Romo represents instability.