Playoffs Home Playoffs History NFL Scoreboard NFL Home Gallery Bracket
ESPN.com
Patriots had the look of winners
By Joe Theismann
Special to ESPN.com

NEW ORLEANS -- My relationship with Bill Belichick has given me a chance to run the scout team with every team he has served as head coach. I did it when he was in Cleveland, and I have done it a few times since he has been in New England. That includes their Week 10 game -- before the New England Patriots last played the St. Louis Rams.

Since I was covering the game for ESPN Sunday Night Football, I practiced with the Patriots on Friday. Oddly enough, the game was on Nov. 18, the 16th anniversary of my broken leg. Since Tom Brady was the starter, I ran the scout team with Drew Bledsoe and Damon Huard. I stretched, warmed up and ran individual drills with them.

I don't think offensive coordinator Charlie Weis was so tickled about me being there. From a coach's perspective, there was work to be done. He must have wondered how serious I would be about the practice and how efficient I would be running the drills.

Dining out
I had dinner Wednesday night with Bill Belichick and six other people at the Palace Cafe around 9:30. Initially, I had wanted to attend one of the Patriots' practices, so I left a message for Bill. But he didn't feel it would be appropriate and suggested dinner instead. Hey, they lost the last time I practiced with them. They don't want me out there. Football players are superstitious enough.

Our dinner came after the announcement that Tom Brady would be the Patriots' starting quarterback Sunday. As we were headed up to the table, I said, "So Tom's the guy?" And Bill said, "Yeah, he looked good, and I think he will be ready on Sunday." That was the extent of the conversation about Brady. Really it was no big deal. Bill didn't try to hide anything. He had to look at Brady in person and on film. He talked to the coaches and then made his decision. I have said all along that the difference between Brady and Drew Bledsoe is minimal.

Bill seemed relaxed and comfortable during dinner. He has that kind of demeanor anyway. He knows what he wants and is a very bright football man. It was nice to sit down and visit about things other than football. One of Bill's guests was someone who played for him as a replacement player for him with the Giants in a game we broadcast on ESPN. The Giants won the game 6-3 in overtime in Buffalo. It was as close to a root canal without Novocain as one could get.

On Thursday morning, I did four hours on the radio talking about the Just for Men "Rejuvenator" sweepstakes. For the rest of the day, I began my corporate commitments. EDS, a business-solutions company, hired me for the rest of the week to do parties and play golf. I'll also be doing some work for the NFL Alumni. On Friday morning, I will be going to a cooking class for three hours in the morning, learning how to cook good Cajun food in the French Quarter.

People have been asking me about the amount of media here, but there hasn't been as much as in the past. There is a lot more security -- and rightfully so. Everything seems subdued. I haven't seen a lot of people on the streets. This isn't New Orleans as I know it for Mardi Gras. With most of the corporations arriving Thursday, the city should start to fill up. It will be interesting to see how it will be Saturday. There isn't a buzz in the air -- in fact, not even a murmur. -- Joe Theismann

It was important for me to perform in a highly professional way. I wouldn't dream of putting on a uniform and going out on the field if I didn't feel like I could give them as much as any scout team quarterback. It would be an insult to the players and to the coach for me to fulfill an ego trip. I did it for the love of the game and because I could still do it.

Because the Patriots were playing the Rams, I had to be Kurt Warner, running the Rams' offense against the Patriots' defense. As long as the quarterback could complete passes, he was able to continue running the team. There were like four or five sessions where the scout team ran seven or eight plays, and I had a stretch of six completions in a row. Then I would miss, and Drew would come in. When he missed, Damon came in. And when he missed, it would be my turn again.

My arm wasn't as sore as I thought it would be the next day. The experience was fun because it gave me a chance to look into the players' eyes and see their focus. I could listen to how the players interacted -- how Tom spoke to Drew and Drew spoke to Damon. They talked about routes, individuals, matchups and positioning. I got a strong feel for the Patriots as a team.

At the end of practice, I got a chance to speak to the players. It was the same opportunity that Ravens coach Brian Billick gave me a year ago during Super Bowl week. I said, "You are good enough to play with anybody. I'll ask you the same question I asked the Ravens last year. 'Why can't it be you?' "

I also told them it would take not only the star players, but also the unknowns. No one ever knows when someone will step up to make the critical play. Last year Brandon Stokley, the Ravens' third receiver, was like that. In the AFC championship game, the Patriots had Antwan Harris, who took the lateral from Troy Brown after the blocked field goal and ran for a touchdown. Antwan who? In big games, like a conference championship game or the Super Bowl, look at a team's roster for a name that hasn't been discussed. He may end being the key player in the game.

The practice afforded me the opportunity to see Brady up close for the first time. He always looks like he has a smile on his face. He has a wonderful calm demeanor. Talking to him, I sensed a quiet confidence, the same kind I see in Kurt Warner. Brady answers questions in a positive way. He talks in terms of what the team is capable of doing. He seemed to have little doubt he could do the job. He was very calm, not in an egotistical way, although I think quarterbacks have to be a little bit cocky. I'd be the last person to ask about a quarterback's cockiness; I'm an authority on it.

Brady impressed me with his arm. I got stuck warming up with him. Drew and Damon weren't stupid. After one of his balls stuck me in the chest, I finally got someone else to catch him for me. He's a strong-armed kid. When he cuts it loose and lets it fly, I'd put him in the same category with Brett Favre. They both throw hard, tight spirals.

Bledsoe seemed very uncomfortable as a backup. But he was determined not to be a distraction to the team. I sensed his love for the game and the position and the respect of the players for him. Here was Bledsoe, the team's $103 million quarterback running the scout team. Put that into perspective. If he takes his job seriously as a scout-team quarterback, no one else on the Patriots has a right not to work hard. In that regard, he was a very positive influence.

I know what it's like for Drew. I was just like him at one time. In 1976, I was the starter, but I lost my job because the coach, George Allen, thought Billy Kilmer had a better history against the team we were playing. Drew and Tom like each other, but Billy and I didn't. Billy and I were more like Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie.

I remember sitting in a meeting room where Billy wouldn't talk to me. The most unnerving situation I have ever experienced in my life was being in a room with someone who completely ignored me. It got my mind working, wondering why. Although we never liked each other, people don't realize I had the utmost respect for him. Someone asked me this week about the main attribute a quarterback needed, and I said toughness. No one was tougher than Billy.

If Drew would have acted any differently toward his situation, he could have brought the team down. He could have been a divisive force if he went public with his frustration. Sprinkle his angst with the Terry Glenn situation, and the Patriots may not have survived. But the Patriots are in New Orleans because of Brady's play and Bledsoe's character.

When Drew got knocked out of bounds on his second play of the game last Sunday, Tom was on the sidelines cheering him on. There is an unconditional support between the two. They aren't faking it. Then, when Bledsoe threw the touchdown pass last Sunday, he looked to the sidelines as if to say, "This is the AFC championship game, and I've been here."

When I saw the Patriots at Media Day, I exchanged hugs with a few players. Due to the times I have practiced with the Patriots, I am probably closer to them than most teams. When ESPN does a New England game, I'm the last one to leave the locker room because I'm busy meeting with the players.

Some of the players are particularly special to me, players like Lawyer Milloy, Bryan Cox and Antowain Smith. On the other hand, I think of Terry Glenn this week and shake my head. Maybe the game doesn't mean as much to him as it means to me, but to not have this opportunity to play in the Super Bowl this Sunday would have broken my heart.

I called Belichick after the Patriots won the AFC championship game and left him a message, congratulating him. He has a big job ahead of him. He doesn't need me, but he knows how I feel. I want to see him succeed, just like I would any of my other friends in the game.

A game analyst for ESPN's Sunday Night Football, former NFL QB Joe Theismann won a Super Bowl and a league MVP award. He serves up a daily Cup o' Joe for ESPN.com throughout Super Bowl week.

.