Let me take a quick moment and offer my sincere apologizes to New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady.
I'm sorry you got hurt and will likely miss the season with a knee injury. It seems that your season only lasted a quarter, which might be tough to take if not for those Super Bowl rings, super-model girlfriend, super-good looks, etc.
I'm sorry you got hurt because it is my fault you were knocked out just barely after the bell rang. It's my fault you got hurt because you were chosen by me in my Fantasy Football draft.
Normally I keep taking a pass on the passers in Fantasy Football, instead looking for some gems while stocking up on running backs and receivers. That's why Cam's Crew was able to take the trophy last season with Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger at QB. (Even though Big Ben wasn't drafted as my starter. What ever happened to Matt Leinart anyway?)
Picking ninth in a 10-team league, I snapped up the best running back available. But when it came time for selection No. 12 and Brady was still available, the temptation was too much. There was no expectation of duplicating an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes, I would have been plenty happy with 47 or 48.
While the Crew will march on with Carolina's Jake Delhomme, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the NFL will react to losing arguably the league's most marquee player. AFC powers like Indianapolis and San Diego must relish the thought of no Brady under center. Except both went out and lost home games the same day to Chicago and Carolina.
Then there's the up-and-coming squads like Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and Cleveland. Heck, maybe this is even part of a great conspiracy for the New York J-E-T-S to reach the promised land with new quarterback Brett Favre.
Maybe the NFC will make it two Super Bowl champions in a row with Dallas or Philadelphia. Except one quarterback (Tony Romo) hasn't won a playoff game yet and the other (Donovan McNabb) has his own health issues.
Maybe this is the year another "surprise" team rises up. Heck, perhaps the N.Y. Giants can repeat.
It will also be interesting to see how the Patriots will do with Matt Cassel, a signal-caller who couldn't even start in college.
Wait a minute, we've had that scenario before. If memory serves, there was with a sixth-round pick out of Michigan who also couldn't start full-time in college.
I think his name was Brady.
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