Sports always came naturally to former New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel . At just 12 years old, Cassel played in baseball's Little League World Series. In 1994, despite not throwing a single pitch all summer, Cassel boldly asked to pitch on the morning of his team's final game against Venezuela. That same instinct resurfaced years later when he replaced an injured Tom Brady in 2008.
"I was lucky because that was my fourth year in the system, and I had great teachers – Josh McDaniels being one of the best," Matt Cassel said on Jon Gruden's Barstool podcast. "He is obviously once again being the coordinator in this Super Bowl coming up. But he really taught me the game."
Despite not having started a regular-season game since 1999, Matt Cassel performed better than anyone could have expected that season.
"And in that off-season, between my rookie season and second year, it was amazing because we'd go in and sit up on the board, and we'd go through all the little nuances of defensive coverage.All those things that you don't really register, so to speak, in college."
Cassel opened up about how he pulled off the 10-5 lead as a starter in 2008.
"You're just kind of getting through," he added. "Just accumulating knowledge. Got some crumbs. Preseason was huge for me in my development. And then when we'd blow teams out, which was more often than not for an NFL team, I'd get to go in there and run some two-minute drill or something like that just to get myself going. So, I felt like I knew the system, but now it was about going out and proving it."
Back in 2005, Matt Cassel was coming off limited game experience at USC, yet the Patriots drafted him in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Still, with Tom Brady firmly established as the franchise quarterback, Cassel stayed buried on the depth chart. Over three seasons, Cassel barely saw the field, recording just 253 yards, 2 touchdowns, and two interceptions.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) and backup quarterback Matt Cassel (16) run drills during football practice, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
At that point, it felt like Matt Cassel would spend his entire NFL career on the bench as a backup, but things took a surprising turn in 2008. During a play at the start of the Patriots' Week 1 game against the Kansas City Chiefs , Tom Brady went down with a serious knee injury after taking a low hit from Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard .
Cassel was then called up to take over the starting job, and despite his lack of experience, the QB showed that he was prepared.
Cassel took over deep in the Patriots' territory and immediately delivered a 51-yard throw to receiver Randy Moss. Just seven plays later, Cassel found Moss again for a touchdown, which gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead early in the game. That opening drive set the tone, not just for the game, but for the rest of the season.
"What happened in that first game, I literally took over in the first quarter of that first game," Cassel further elaborated. "And it was reactionary because you didn't have time to think about the situation. You felt your heartbeat in your chest. But we went out, and I hit a long ball down to Randy early on… I just caught him out of my eye running by, and I said, 'All right, let's let it rip.' I started gaining confidence."
Matt Cassel finished that Week 1 game with 152 yards and 1 touchdown and led the Patriots to a 17-10 win over the Chiefs. The next day, the Patriots confirmed that Tom Brady would miss the rest of the season due to his injury.
And while the Patriots soon brought QBs Tim Rattay and Chris Simms to Foxborough to work out, the team signed neither and kept Cassel as the starter for the rest of the season.
After Tom Brady got injured in 2008, many expected Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to sign a veteran, especially with only rookie QB Kevin O'Connell behind Matt Cassel. But Belichick re-signed second-year QB Matt Gutierrez, who was with the Patriots through training camp in 2008, but was released before the season.
But then, Guiterrez only served as a depth piece as Belichick handed Matt Cassel the key to the Patriots' offense. Matt Cassel paid back that faith shown in him after he won that Week 1 game for his team. In his first NFL start against the New York Jets , Cassel led the Patriots to a 19-10 victory, completing 16 of 23 passes for 165 yards, and that only increased his confidence.
"As the season started to go, it started to become the offense that I recognized over the last three seasons that Tom was running because I knew protection schemes," Cassel said. "I could run the check with my game. I could do all those things, but then it was about going out there and getting the confidence, and then you get the confidence of the guys around you. And hell, you start rolling."
By the end of the 2008 season, Cassel threw for 3,693 yards, 21 touchdowns, and eleven interceptions, finishing with an 89.4 passer rating. More importantly, Cassel proved that he had been building toward his big moment for years. And when his chance finally came, Cassel didn't hesitate.
