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Tom Brady Falls to 2008 Season Ending Injury:

Tom Brady, the quarterback star on the New England Patriots, sustained a season-ending injury during Week One of the 2008 NLF regular season. During the Patriots’ season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium, Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard took a dive toward Brady’s left knee, sending the quarterback to the ground. Withering in pain, Brady limped off the field. He would not return to finish the game. After several x-rays, the team confirmed Brady would need surgery to repair his injury. The move resulted in an end to the quarterback’s streak of most consecutive starts by an NFL quarterback at 111 games. He followed closely Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Ron Jaworski.

With the team’s number one starter on the injury list, backup quarterback Matt Cassel took his place. Born on May 17, 1982 in Northridge, California, Cassel went on to spend his entire career at USC’s backup quarterback behind Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. Eventually losing out to Leinart for the quarterback position, Cassel spent time as tight end. In 2005, Cassel was selected by the Patriots as the 230th overall pick. Similar to Tom Brady’s athletic effort, Cassel worked hard during training and succeeded by making the team. His first outing on the field as a Patriots quarterback arrived on October 2nd, 2005 during the closing minutes of his team’s loss to the San Diego Chargers. In 2006, Cassel made as the team’s second string quarterback. Aside from a few plays to cap off wins during the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Cassel didn’t make his official debut until this season’s tragic season-ending injury to Tom Brady.