Call them the “Tom Brady Six.” As in, the six quarterbacks drafted ahead of Tom Brady in the 2000 NFL Draft. Former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Tee Martin is on that list. In Kevin Colbert’s first draft, he took Martin in the fifth round, 36 picks ahead of Brady.
Looking back, it was obviously the wrong move. No one in the NFL understood the player Brady would become. Choosing Brady over Martin would’ve been the right decision but in Colbert’s mind, the Steelers still made a sound pick in selecting Martin. Appearing on the North Catholic Athletics Podcast, Colbert himself once a North Catholic grad, he explained that selection.
“I always go back to my first year as a Steelers GM,” Colbert said when asked about career regrets. “Tom Brady was picked in the sixth round. We took Tee Martin in the fifth round. I always say Tee Martin was a great fifth-round pick. When you draft in Rounds One, Two, Three, those guys should usually be the starters. Rounds Four and Five, they’re usually the backups. Six and seven, they’re usually practice squad types.
“Tee Martin was a good backup NFL quarterback. Obviously Tom Brady was Tom Brady. And at that point, nobody recognized that. And I include New England in that and New England includes themselves in that. Had they known that, they of course would’ve taken him with their first pick.”
Martin was an NFL backup for several years, but he only spent two of them in Pittsburgh. While he made the team, he appeared in just one game for the Steelers. Never throwing a pass, he recorded a rush of 8 yards, something we wrote about in the summer of 2018. Of course, we found the play, a designed QB draw in mop-up duty of a blowout win over the Cleveland Browns.
Martin spent time in NFL Europe before latching on with the Philadelphia Eagles in October 2002. He would see his most significant playing time the following year, appearing in two games for the Oakland Raiders. There, he threw his first NFL passes, completing 6-of-16 with no touchdowns and one interception. As one of our favorite weird stats, Martin has the distinction of completing all of his NFL passes to Hall of Famers. Five went to Jerry Rice, one went to Tim Brown.
But Martin, unlike Brady, did not become a Hall of Famer. Instead, Brady became the Steelers’ roadblock, defeating Pittsburgh in three AFC Championship Games: 2001, 2004, and 2016. Over that span, he threw five touchdowns, zero interceptions, and dashed the team’s dreams on his way to becoming a legendary player.
Still, Colbert attempted to keep perspective of what Martin added to the team.
“When you look back obviously, we chased Brady for however many years he was in New England. He was special. We and the rest of the NFL missed it. A lot of times people point out, you took Tee Martin. I say ‘Yeah we did.’ And I loved Tee. Tee won a national championship at the University of Tennessee. And again, as a fifth-round pick, he was a really good fifth-round pick.”
Released by the Raiders after the 2004 season, Martin spent two seasons in the CFL before becoming a coach. He now serves as the Baltimore Ravens’ quarterbacks coach, helping mold QB Lamar Jackson to his second MVP.
“Happy for Tee. Proud of Tee. Was Brady the better player? Obviously. History has proven that.”
The other five quarterbacks taken ahead of Brady? Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Marc Bulger, and Spergon Wynn. Colbert’s argument would’ve been bolstered a bit had he found Bulger, who became a two-time Pro Bowlers for the St. Louis Rams.
Colbert’s optimism is appreciated and what’s done is done. But had the Steelers gone the other way, had they selected Brady, the course of history would’ve been changed. Even if Brady didn’t become the Hall of Famer he turned out to be, the Steelers wouldn’t have been thwarted by the Patriots so many times.
Of course, it still leaves several critical questions. Would Brady have gotten a chance to play in Pittsburgh? Would he have the same success? If so, where does Ben Roethlisberger go and what does his career look like? A fun hypothetical but only that. Martin became the backup. Brady became the GOAT.
