Before beginning his 22-year NFL career that is still running through these playoffs, Tom Brady he had dreamed that the team he had been a fan of as a child, the San Francisco 49ers, will select in some draft the native San Mateo, California.
However, that day and that selection belonged to a young quarterback from the University of Hosftra named Giovanni Carmazzi – selected 65th overall in the draft during the third round. For those who already know Brady’s draft story, he was selected 199th.
Brady still resents the 49ers for having selected a player who never started in the NFL, and made it known during his podcast “This Week’s Let’s Go.
“I withdrew my support from the Niners when they bypassed me six times 22 years ago and ended up drafting Giovanni Carmazzi after Steve Mariucci had invited me to work out with them. But then he decided he didn’t have the level to play there,” Brady revealed after Jim Gray’s question.
Brady shared his version of why the team he supported as a child didn’t draft him. However, the 49ers coach at the time finally revealed the reasons why the franchise decided to select another player.
An athletic quarterback was the coach’s motive
Steve Mariucci was the head coach for the 49ers at the time. On Sunday, January 16, the anniversary of his hiring was fulfilled.
But before the 2000 draft, his team had finished the season with a disappointing record. 4-12. At the time, it was the worst trademark of the 49ers having finished 3-6 in 1982 after a strike-interrupted season, but it had been the first time since 1980 that they had lost 10 or more games.
The 1999 season was also the last season for Steve Young, who ended up retiring after that season.
“Mooch” spoke on KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM on the “Murph y Mac Show” last Wednesday and finally explained why they chose Carmazzi over the future seven-time Super Bowl champion.
“As you know, we were looking for someone to replace Steve Young, someone athletic, and that’s how we wanted to play, with the West Coast offense,” Mariucci said.
Brady just didn’t fit what “Mooch” was looking for in his offense.
“For us, Tom was a player who stayed in the pocket and we wanted someone athletic. And it’s not easy to find players like that. We had a couple of flops, but we ended up finding Jeff Garcia,” Mariucci said.
There’s no denying that Garcia made an impact with the 49ers. For the next three seasons, Garcia was selected to the Pro Bowl during the best stretch of his eleven-season career. Garcia had a total of 84 touchdown passes and just 32 interceptions during that span, según Pro Football Reference.
Because of that, Carmazzi – better known as the quarterback selected instead of Brady – never started an NFL game and eventually made it to NFL Europe (Rhein Fire, 2001) and the Canadian Football League (he played for the British Columbia Lions and the Calgary Stampeders).
In an ESPN documentary called “The Brady 6”, it was revealed that Carmazzi found work as a “yoga practicing farmer”, owner of five goats but no television.
What’s more, in an April 2011 Bleacher Report article, a list of the biggest failures of the last 20 years of the 49ers was made and Carmazzi came second.
What does Mooch think about Brady now?
Now known as a well-known personality on the NFL Network, Mariucci reminded listeners of the following: He wasn’t the only one who chose to skip Brady.
“Everyone skipped it six times, right? Mariucci said. “That is incredible. I adore Tom.”
Oh, there’s a chance Brady will face the team he supported as a kid in the NFC playoffs — if his Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the 49ers’ division rival, the Los Angeles Rams, on Sunday while the 49ers they find a way to upset the Green Bay Packers on Saturday… they would put together an NFC conference final between the 49ers and the Bucs.
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