Finally the draft began. One by one players were contacted by their respective new teams. While some thrilled at the realization of their dreams come true other's hopes sank with each passing selection and with each passing round. Hopes faded quickly as the second, third, fourth and fifth rounds ended.
Finally at pick 199 a phone rang and a NFL hopeful got the good news he had long awaited for. As one of the last picks of the draft his prospects of actually making the NFL roster seemed a long shot at best. On top of that the team already had three veterans playing his position.
Have you ever felt passed over? Have you ever been told you were not good enough?
That is exactly how the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL draft felt. What most could not see in this kid was the competitive fire and work ethic in him. Somehow he made the team. Predictably he barely saw the field his rookie season. Still this kid worked hard. His dream was not just to make it to the NFL. He wanted to play and excel.
Some of you may already know who this player is. Some are on the edge of your seats to discover the mystery of identity of 199. TOM BRADY.
Six other quarterbacks were selected in that 2000 draft ahead of Brady. That mens six other teams passed on Brady. Of those six quarterbacks combined they started a total of 191 games. Brady alone has started 251 and that just counts the regular seasons starts and not the post season.
Those other six quarterbacks threw a combined total of 246 touchdown passes. Brady alone has thrown 488 and still counting. None of those six are still playing. Brady is still going strong about to play for another chance to go to the Super Bowl again.
All those other teams passed on Brady in that 2000 NFL draft. Let's not be too quick to judge. Brady ran a 5.28 forty yard time. Some 300 pond linemen ran faster times. If you saw his picture taken at the draft stripped down to his underwear he looked skinny and anything but athletic. He ran so slow that since 2000 only three quarterbacks have run slower times out of 308 other guys.
In the sixth round with the 199th pick the Patriots could not pass up Brady again. They did not need a quarterback but they liked Brady's mental make up. The same mental make up that has fueled Brady to multiple AFC Championships and Super Bowl Titles.
What's the point? You may have been passed over. You may have heard repeatedly that you are not good enough, qualified enough, expert enough, educated enough, or a host of other measuring sticks. Nobody can measure the heart.
David got passed over by his own father when Samuel came at God's direction looking for Israel's second king. I guess the ruddy shepherd boy did not look or act like king material. He is the very one God chose. Read it for yourself.
1 Samuel 16:1-13 (NKJV)
1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons."
2 And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'
3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you."
4 So Samuel did what the LORD said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, "Do you come peaceably?"
5 And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him."
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."
9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."
10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen these."
11 And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all the young men here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here."
12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!"
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
To every person out there who has been passed over I challenge you not to give up. Not to doubt what you can accomplish by fierce determination and work ethic. Do not doubt what God can do in you and through you. While I have never read anything about Tom Brady being a follower of Jesus I know David was a man after God's own heart. His accomplishments can be read in I and II Samuel.
You may feel passed over like the 199th pick. That does not limit God's ability to use you to accomplish His purposes through you. Trust God. Lean on Him. Learn to work hard and give God your best. Let God do the rest. It may surprise you and the world what He can do.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NKJV)
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--
31 that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."
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