IRVING – The Cowboys final regular-season game against Detroit was over for only a few seconds. Most of the players' faces expressed disappointment and shock as they walked off the field after losing to the Lions, and then I saw Drew Bledsoe.
He kept looking up at the Texas Stadium suite where his family sat during games. He gave a thumbs-up and looked down to the ground. Then he looked back and gave a wave. He walked slowly, taking in a moment he knew would be his last in the NFL.
I sent him a text message later that night, saying he looked melancholy. He agreed. He knew then his playing days were over, he just wasn't saying it publicly. Some teammates knew of Bledsoe's intentions before the playoff game at Seattle.
The official notice came late Wednesday night from his agent's office in Newport Beach, Calif. Bledsoe chose to walk away quietly, without fanfare, without a tearful, televised goodbye. It was how he was.
In 1993, his rookie year, I was fresh out of college, living 20 minutes from Foxboro Stadium and Bledsoe helped keep the Patriots in New England. My friends became season-ticket holders in 1992 and I'd go to a couple of games a year. I wanted to go to the '93 season finale against Miami because I was sure the Patriots were moving to St. Louis. Somewhere I still have the ticket stub.
Bledsoe led the Patriots to an overtime win when he hit Michael Timpson for a 36-yard touchdown. My friends wanted to rush the field before I pointed out the German shepherds and mounted police.
Robert Kraft ended up buying the team and the Patriots became the model franchise of the league. Bledsoe had something to do with that.
After 14 years with New England, Buffalo and the Cowboys, 44,611 passing yards and 251 touchdown passes, Bledsoe decided to walk away from the game. He went to four Pro Bowls, led the Patriots and coach Bill Parcells to Super Bowl XXXI and came off the bench to beat Pittsburgh five years later to get New England to Super Bowl XXXVI.
In 22 games with the Cowboys, he threw for 4,803 yards with 30 touchdowns, 25 interceptions and had a 12-10 record. His 23 touchdown passes in 2005 were the most by a Dallas quarterback since Troy Aikman had 23 in 1992.
Sadly, he'll be remembered more for the beginning of the Tom Brady and Tony Romo eras in two different cities. His last pass was intercepted at the goal line, leading to his halftime benching against the New York Giants last season.
But that's not how Bledsoe should be remembered.
He handled everything with class. In New England, he bit his tongue even though he felt like Bill Belichick told him the job was his when he was healthy after suffering a sheared blood vessel in his chest cavity that nearly cost him his life. In Dallas, he went about his business without causing a ruckus or distracting a locker room that could have teetered out of control when Romo became the starter.
Whether he was the starter or the backup, he always spent time on the Texas Stadium turf throwing passes after games to his sons, Stuart, John and Henry, and to strangers. After a win or a loss, he took photos and signed autographs.
Bledsoe was the antithesis of the look-at-me athlete who gets too much attention these days. He played hard. He played hurt. He believed – and probably still does – he was the best guy for the job. That's what you want. He didn't point fingers.
When he left New England, Bledsoe took out a full page ad in The Boston Globe, thanking the fans for their support. My nephew still has a framed copy of the ad on the wall of his bedroom.
Forget the honors, the stats and the wins and losses, every athlete should want to have that kind of effect on a kid.
That's what Drew Bledsoe should be remembered for most.
