Back-up plan

DREW: Finally feeling the love.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony yesterday at Gillette was even more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Me, Bergs and my nephews Pete and Steve joined a few thousand others to watch former Pats greats Jon Morris and Drew Bledsoe put on the red jackets.

Morris played before Pete and Steve were born. It was fun to watch them listening to stories about players who made $12k a year and played football at Fenway. The old lineman gave a great speech. It was easy to see that Morris -- who later did radio for the Pats -- is a genuinely good guy. As is the other former Patriot now in the Hall.

Bledsoe was certainly the man most fans came to see and he did not disappoint. He arrived with a bit of a movie star look -- crisp white shirt, black jacket, shades. He looked sharp. He took off the shades for the speech. He said his mother made him.

It was nice to see Bledsoe smiling and fondly looking back at his years as the face of the franchise. As he said, being a guy from Walla Walla, Washington he had no idea what it would be like to play in New England. "You take your sports really seriously out here," he said laughing. "I'm from Washington. We hike and ride our bikes." It was not easy for Bledsoe being the Pats QB. He was clearly in a strange land and under a lot of pressure. He almost always handled both with class.

There were lots of great moments in his speech. I took some video but never captured any of the really funny or touching moments. My timing with video is the worst. You could say I'm the Brandon Meriweather of video taping. There was one line that I really wish I had caught on tape.

Bledsoe thanked many of his former teammates. He started with his offensive line as quarterbacks always do. They kept him alive. Barely. Then he mentioned his receivers, tight ends, and running backs. Then thanked his back-up quarterbacks. The guys who have the thankless job of always being one step away from fulfilling their dream. Starting QB in the NFL. He thanked current Sports Blab personality Scott Zolak for keeping him sane while coach Parcells was screaming at him day in and day out. "Thanks for always having my back, Zo."

Then he thanked "that other back-up. Number 12." Bledsoe added: "He was a good back-up except he didn't quite understand that whole back-up part." It was the best laugh of the day.

Bledsoe then spoke to the fans: "Seriously. I hope everyone here appreciates just how lucky they are to be watching him. He is doing things on the field that are just amazing."

Bledsoe is right. And as always, he's a class act.