# @clutchpoints on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DAIHBBOtfSK
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/23355748-clutchpoints-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/55e74ced4c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-09-20T05:09:56.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) — https://gondola.cc/ClutchPoints

## Caption

We finally know how the Patriots ACTUALLY got Tom Brady. 

And Jets fans, you might want to close your eyes. 

Pablo Torre did some digging on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” pod, and uncovered one of the NFL's biggest mysteries. 

We all know the Pats took Brady with the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. But it was actually a compensatory pick. 

The NFL has a formula for compensatory picks that’s never been revealed, but somehow they awarded New England the #199 selection for a player they lost.

And who was that player the Pats lost? 
Tom Tupa, a dual QB/punter. 

Don’t worry if you don't recognize the name. But his story is WILD. 

Back when Bill Belichick was with the Browns, he signed Tupa - not to be QB, to be a holder on kicks. 

And Tupa became the first man in NFL history to score a 2-point conversion - doing it as the holder on a fake field goal. 

Just like that, “2-point Tupa” was born. 

And when Belichick went to New England, Tupa followed him. But in 1999, Tupa left the Pats and signed with the Jets, where Belichick was now an assistant coach. 

The Jets made Tupa the highest-paid punter in the NFL. And Tupa rewarded them by having an All-Pro season. 

But here’s where it gets crazy: 

The Jets played him at QB for 1 game due to an injury, and Tupa was on fire for 3 quarters. 

But Bill Parcells decided to relegate him back to punting for the 4th. A backup QB then threw 2 INT, and the Jets lost by 2.��

That year, the Jets finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs by 1 game - a game Tupa could’ve won for them.

That’s important because the failed season caused Bill Parcells to retire, and Bill Belichick became the Jets’ head coach for a whole day… 

Before stepping down and becoming head coach of the Pats. 

And because they lost All-Pro Tom Tupa the year before, and because the Jets paid him a massive salary, those same Patriots were rewarded a 6th round compensatory pick: 

#199 

Belichick then used that pick to draft the greatest QB of all time. 

And we can officially thank the Jets for the Patriots getting both Belichick AND Brady.

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## Tags

199

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