Ex-Jets star Mo Lewis defends infamous tackle, blames Drew Bledsoe for sparking Tom Brady's historic NFL rise

In Mo Lewis delivered a tackle that altered NFL history Lewis who spent his entire pro career with the New York Jets tackled then-New England Patriots starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe The hit forced Bledsoe to exit the event giving Tom Brady an opportunity to play Brady took advantage of the chance and Bledsoe never reclaimed the starting job While Lewis appeared to receive the lion's share of the blame for sparking the two-decade run of unprecedented success Brady produced with the New England Patriots the retired linebacker argued the fault should certainly be assigned to Bledsoe CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMIn longtime NFL reporter Gary Myers' book Brady vs Belichick Lewis pointed to Bledsoe s decision to scramble on the play Bledsoe just signed a million deal to be what type of quarterback A passing quarterback correct Had he not got outside the pocket and ran with the ball would we be talking about this Who caused the event The person who was with the ball Lewis noted Now he's doing what he didn't sign up for He signed up to be a passing quarterback What do I do I stop the people with the ball It's just another play for me But it's a different play for him NFL STAR CHOOSES SIDE IN PEYTON MANNING VS TOM BRADY DEBATELewis gave chase as Bledsoe scrambled to try and gain enough yardage for a first down The hit on Bledsoe was deemed legal but numerous observers likely remembered the tackle due to its intensity Lewis stepped away from football after the season and he's largely avoided the media or populace events affiliated with the Jets in the years since Lewis decision to live away from the spotlight centered on his frustration with being remembered mostly for the Bledsoe tackle instead of his overall career achievements ESPN shared citing Lewis teammates Lewis earned first-team All-Pro honors in and was selected to three Pro Bowls Lewis suggested he wasn t personally affected by the fallout from the infamous play It's really irrelevant to me he declared It was just another play to me To you all it's a big game-changing history-changing play I've never gone back to watch the play If people want to talk about it I don't hide from it But it has no importance to me Brady went on to win six Super Bowl titles with the Patriots He left the franchise after the season and won his seventh championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter