Drew Bledsoe

Joining the Huddle this week is NFL Qb Drew Bledsoe. The First pick in the 1993 draft. Drew helped improve the fortunes of the Patriots, who had fallen on hard times. During his tenure as starting quarterback, the Patriots ended a seven-year postseason drought, qualified for the playoffs four times, and made one Super Bowl appearance. He also made it to three Pro Bowls. Drew suffered a near-fatal injury early in the 2001 season; he got hit by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis and suffered a sheared blood vessel in his chest, which almost resulted in his death. This terrible injury leads to his backup Tom Brady becoming the team's starter. He could not regain his starting position for the remainder of the season due to Brady's success; Bledsoe subsequently played three seasons with the Bills. He made a fourth Pro Bowl appearance, and two with the Dallas Cowboys, before retiring during the 2007 offseason. Upon his retirement from the NFL in 2007, Drew Bledsoe "doubled back" to his hometown of Walla Walla, Washington, to realize a long-held dream. Drew and his wife, Maura, purchased a piece of property on the southern edge of the Walla Walla Valley and subsequently launched Doubleback, https://doubleback.com, as an estate-focused winery to craft America's best Cabernet Sauvignon. Drew had long been planning for this moment during his years playing football, and success came immediately as the first vintage earned a spot in Wine Spectator's Top 100 List.