November 18, 2009

The Story of Tom Brady's First Completed Pass: Bill Harke, a professional caddy on the PGA and LPGA tours, has an awesome sports story to tell -- but it isn't about golf. He caught Tom Brady's first pass when they were both freshmen at Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif. "I just did this little out pattern, and Tom threw it right in my numbers for seven yards. I caught it and ran out of bounds," said Harke. "I remember that at the moment I caught the pass, my mom shrieked in terror; she thought I was going to get killed. That's the only thing I heard, and it's the reason I ran out of bounds, I think." It was the only catch of Harke's entire football career.

posted by rcade to football at 06:46 PM - 1 comment

It's interesting that they said Brady had a strong arm back in high school. One of the most noticeable things about Brady when he got to the Pats was his unimpressive arm strength.

If you look at film of preseason games from his first two summers, his throws are full body motions requiring a lot of visible effort, where he has to really step into the throw and rotate his shoulders to get something on the ball. Even for passes under 20 yards.

Comparing Brady's full windup to Bledsoe's relaxed, natural cannon arm flick was like night and day.

Now, Brady has a much more efficient, controlled and powerful throwing motion. He wasn't born with it - he had to work hard to develop it. If Moss had come to the Pats back in 2001, Brady might not have been able to get him the ball quickly and deeply enough on go routes.

posted by beaverboard at 11:20 PM on November 18, 2009

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