Drew Bledsoe Drew Bledsoe ( born February 14 , 1972 ) is a former American football quarterback who played fourteen seasons in the National Football League ( NFL ) , best known as the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots from 1993 - 2001 . During the 1990s , he was considered the face of the Patriots franchise . Bledsoe , a Pro - Bowler , All - American for the Washington State Cougars and No . 1 overall draft pick in the 1993 NFL Draft , announced his retirement from the sport on April 11 , 2007 . High school years . Bledsoe attended Walla Walla High School and was a letterman in football and basketball . In football , he was named a first team All - State selection by the Tacoma News Tribune . College years . Bledsoe only stayed at Washington State for 3 years but still managed to put together a record - setting career . After gaining the starting job in the end of the 1990 season as a true freshman , he quickly became the face of the Cougars offense . In 1992 Bledsoe led his team to a 9 - 3 record ( ranking # 10 in the coaches poll and # 12 in the AP ) and a 31 - 28 win against the Utah Utes in the Copper Bowl . Bledsoe completed 30 - 46 passes for 476 yards and 2 TDs in the game . He also established WSU records in single - game passing yards ( 476 ) , single - season pass completions ( 241 ) , and single - season passing yards ( 3 , 946 ) . He was named the Pac - 10 Offensive Player of the Year . Following an impressive junior year Bledsoe decided to forgo his senior season and enter the 1993 NFL Draft . In the 34 starts of his collegiate career he amassed 9 , 373 yards , 532 completions and 66 touchdowns . NFL career . New England Patriots : 1993 – 2001 . Bledsoe was drafted first overall in the 1993 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots . He started right away for the Patriots in his rookie season , as they improved from two to five wins . On November 13 , 1994 , the Patriots had won just three of their first nine games and were losing 20 - 3 to the Minnesota Vikings at halftime . Bledsoe led a comeback victory in which the Patriots won 26 - 20 in overtime , as he set single game records in pass completions ( 45 ) and attempts ( 70 ) . By remaining undefeated throughout the succeeding games , the Patriots earned their first postseason appearance in eight years . Bledsoe started all 16 games that season and went on to set a NFL record in pass attempts ( 691 ) , becoming the second NFL quarterback to complete 400 or more passes in a season ( 400 ) , and led the league in passing yards ( 4 , 555 ) . Due to his performance , Bledsoe was selected to his first Pro Bowl as an alternate . Following a difficult 1995 season , Bledsoe turned it around in 1996 ranking among the top passers in the league with the help of wide receiver Terry Glenn , thus pushing the Patriots to reach the playoffs again and winning the against the Jacksonville Jaguars 20 - 6 . This led to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXI , where they lost to the Green Bay Packers by the score of 35 - 21 . Bledsoe completed 25 of 48 passes for 253 yards , with two touchdowns and four interceptions in the loss . He was also named a starter for the Pro Bowl that season , the second of his career . During the 1997 season , Bledsoe helped the Patriots win five of their final seven games to once again qualify for the playoffs , the fourth time in eight years as a Patriots starter he would lead the team to a postseason appearance . The Patriots lost in the second round to the Pittsburgh Steelers , however Bledsoe built a career - high 87 . 7 passer rating , passed for 3706 yards , tossed 28 Touchdowns , and earned his third Pro Bowl invitation . The following year , he became the first NFL quarterback to complete game - winning touchdown passes in the final 30 seconds of two consecutive games . In doing so , he propelled New England into the postseason for the third straight year . He completed these come - from - behind efforts while playing with a broken index finger on his throwing hand , an injury that would later sideline him for the postseason . Bledsoe started the 1999 season very strongly , with 13 touchdowns and only four interceptions as the Patriots held a 6 - 2 mid - season record . However , Bledsoe subsequently threw only six touchdowns versus 17 interceptions , and the team faltered to an 8 - 8 record . The slide continued into 2000 ' s 5 - 11 season . While Bledsoe threw a career low 13 interceptions that year , he was sacked 45 times . Nonetheless , in March 2001 , Bledsoe was signed to a then - record ten - year , $ 103 million contract . Bledsoe did not , however , finish his career with the Patriots , nor even see the opening of the new Gillette Stadium . During the second game of the 2001 season , Bledsoe was hit by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis and suffered a sheared blood vessel in his chest . Replacing Bledsoe at quarterback , soon - to - be superstar All - Pro quarterback Tom Brady led the Patriots to an eventual Super Bowl championship . Though he never regained his starting role , Bledsoe nevertheless proved integral to his team ' s playoff run when he replaced a hobbled Brady in the against Pittsburgh . Bledsoe , starting from the Steelers 40 yard line , capped a scoring drive with an 11 - yard touchdown pass to David Patten to seal a 24 - 17 victory . In gaining the conference title Bledsoe completed 10 of 21 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown , with no interceptions . Appreciative of his lengthy tenure with the team , Patriots fans cheered Bledsoe in each of his three returns to New England as a visiting player . Bledsoe ' s # 11 jersey was not re - issued until the 2009 season , when Julian Edelman took the number . On May 16 , 2011 , Bledsoe was voted by Patriots fans into the Patriots Hall of Fame . He was formally inducted in a public ceremony outside The Hall at Patriot Place on September 17 , 2011 . Bledsoe beat former head coach Bill Parcells and defensive lineman Houston Antwine in a fan vote . Buffalo Bills : 2002 – 2004 . A change of scenery — by way of a trade — to Bledsoe ' s former division rival Buffalo seemed to give him a bit of rejuvenation in 2002 . He had one of his best seasons ever , passing for 4 , 359 yards and 24 touchdowns and making his fourth trip to the Pro Bowl . In Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings , Bledsoe set a team record with 463 yards passing in an overtime win . He continued his strong play in 2003 as the Bills began the year 2 - 0 . However , a flurry of injuries stymied the Bills offense ; they failed to score a touchdown in three consecutive games en route to a 6 - 10 season . In 2004 , they fell one game short of making the playoffs ; a late season winning streak went for naught when Bledsoe and the Bills performed poorly against the Pittsburgh Steelers backups in the season finale . Bledsoe was released by the Bills after the 2004 season to make way for backup quarterback J . P . Losman . It was the second time that his team had let him go for a younger quarterback . When Bledsoe was later signed by the Dallas Cowboys , he expressed bitterness with the Bills for the move , stating " I can ' t wait to go home and dress my kids in little stars and get rid of the other team ' s [ Buffalo ' s ] stuff . " Dallas Cowboys : 2005 – 2006 . Bledsoe went on to sign with the Dallas Cowboys , where he was reunited with former coach Bill Parcells . Bledsoe intended on being a long - term solution at quarterback for the Cowboys . Said Bledsoe on the day he signed with Dallas , " Bill [ Parcells ] wants me here , and being the starter . I anticipate that being the case and not for one year . " He signed for $ 23 million for three years . During his tenure with the Cowboys , he threw for over 3 , 000 yards in a season for the ninth time in his career , tying Warren Moon for fourth in NFL history . That season , Bledsoe led five 4th quarter / OT game - winning drives to keep the Cowboys ’ playoff hopes alive until the final day of the season . Though the team ultimately failed to reach the playoffs , Bledsoe had led them to a 9 - 7 record , an improvement over the 6 - 10 mark that Vinny Testaverde had finished with in 2004 . However , in 2006 , his final season with the Cowboys , Bledsoe ' s play became erratic , so much so that six games into the season he was replaced by then - backup and soon to be Pro Bowler Tony Romo . Shortly after the end of the 2006 season , Bledsoe was released by the Cowboys . Unwilling to be relegated to a backup position , Bledsoe announced his retirement from the NFL on April 11 , 2007 . Retirement and legacy . When Bledsoe retired in April 2007 , he left fifth in NFL history in pass attempts ( 6 , 717 ) and completions ( 3 , 839 ) , seventh in passing yards ( 44 , 611 ) , and 13th in touchdown passes ( 251 ) . In July of 2012 , Bledsoe was named the thirtieth greatest quarterback of the NFL ' s post - merger era , according to Football Nation . Personal life . Drew and his wife Maura live in Bend , Oregon and have four children : sons Stuart , John and Henry , and daughter Healy . He coaches his sons ' , Stuart and John ' s , football team named the Seahawks . While playing for the New England Patriots , Drew Bledsoe lived in Medfield , Massachusetts in the house that is currently owned by retired Major League Baseball player Curt Schilling . Right before his departure from the New England Patriots , and the town of Medfield , he donated football cleats to the entire Medfield High School football team . After his retirement in 2007 , Bledsoe founded the Doubleback Winery along with close friend Chris Figgins . The company ' s grapes are harvested from McQueen Vineyards and Flying B Vineyards , located in and around Walla Walla , Washington . The wine has had success recently , placing 53rd overall in Wine Spectator ' s Top 100 wines . His first vintage which was 2007 vintage quickly sold out of its initial 600 cases . In 2012 , Marvin R . Shanken invited Ernie Els , Greg Norman , Tom Seaver and Bledsoe to introduce his wines , despite Shanken ' s disdain for New England Patriots . Bledsoe also has a vested interest in Bledsoe Capital Group , which is committed to facilitating the capitalization , development , and marketing of its diverse holdings and investments . In his spare time , he also works with many philanthropic organizations . Statistics . Accomplishments . While Bledsoe ' s has thrown for a high number of yards and attempts , a frequent criticism is that they are based on volume ( attempts , completions , yards ) rather than efficiency ( passer rating , TD - to - INT ratio , yards per attempt ) proving only that he has thrown a great number of times , not that he has thrown well . According to Don Banks of Sports Illustrated , Bledsoe ' s large career totals " reveal more about his longevity than about his excellence " . Bledsoe ranks fifth all - time in completions ( 3 , 839 ) , seventh in passing yards ( 44 , 611 ) , and 13th in touchdown passes ( 251 ) . Bledsoe ' s career ( 57 . 2 ) completion percentage is lower than all recent Hall of Fame quarterbacks with the exception of John Elway . Bledsoe ' s NFL career passer rating of ( 77 . 1 ) surpasses nine Hall of Fame Quarterbacks . Bledsoe ' s 37 regular season 300 - yard passing games ranks 9th in league history . He also ranks 6th ( with 6 ) in most career regular season 400 - yard passing games by an NFL quarterback . He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times ( in 1994 , 1996 , 1997 , 2002 ) . Bledsoe was eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 .