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Up until the year 2000, the No. 199 overall pick in the NFL draft didn’t really mean much to most people. And we say that with no disrespect to any player taken with that particular selection up to that point as anyone lucky enough to hear their name called during the NFL draft deserves at least a little respect, right? But let’s get real here. Being drafted at No. 199 wasn’t cool until Tom Brady made it that way.

Famously taken in the sixth round of the 2000 draft with the 199th overall pick by the New England Patriots, Brady has become arguably the greatest player in NFL history and will become the first No. 199 pick in history to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he finally decides to hang up his cleats.

So that got us thinking. Since TB12 was drafted in 2000, what happened with the 20 players taken at No. 199 since then? Well, while we’ll get to each specifically here in just a moment, we can tell you this. Not one of them has ever made a Pro Bowl or been an All-Pro selection, although that may change over the next few years as the No. 199 selection from 2020, LA Rams safety Jordan Fuller, could be the one to end the drought.

Tom Brady certainly wasn’t expected to win seven Super Bowls when taken with the No. 199 pick in the 2000 NFL draft

2000 NFL draft pick No. 199 Tom Brady celebrates his seventh Super Bowl victory
Tom Brady celebrates after winning Super Bowl 55 | Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Let’s not get this twisted. When Brady was taken at No. 199 in the 2000 NFL draft out of Michigan, it’s not as if everyone expected him to do what he’s done in the two-plus decades since. He was simply another late-round quarterback who was expected to be a serviceable backup.

And it’s not as if the Patriots actually needed a quarterback at the time as they had then-three-time Pro Bowler Drew Bledsoe under center and he’d led New England to a Super Bowl just a few years earlier. There were no plans for Brady to take over and the Pats made that crystal clear by signing Bledsoe to a 10-year/$103 million contract ahead of the 2001 season, at the time the biggest deal in NFL history.

But we all know what happened then. Bledsoe went down with an injury in Week 2 of the ’01 season, an injury that actually nearly killed him, Brady took over, and the rest is history. TB12 never relinquished the starting role and spent 20 years in New England, leading the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances, winning six of them. He then went on to win a seventh title in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

A look at the No. 199 picks in the NFL draft from 2001-2010

Of the 10 players taken at No. 199 in the NFL draft in the decade following Brady’s rookie season, three never played a regular-season down and one played just a single game. The only player from this group still in the league is former UAB quarterback Joe Webb, who became more of an all-purpose player in the pros and is currently under contract with the New York Giants.

  • 2001: Adam Haayer, OT, Minnesota — Drafted by the Tennessee Titans, played three NFL seasons (20 games) with the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals
  • 2002: Adrian Peterson, RB, Georgia Southern — Drafted by the Chicago Bears, played eight NFL seasons (106 games), all with the Bears
  • 2003: Willie Ponder, WR, SE Missouri State — Drafted by New York Giants, played four NFL seasons (38 games) with the Giants, St. Louis Rams, and Seattle Seahawks
  • 2004: Clarence Moore, WR, Northern Arizona — Drafted by the Baltimore Ravens, played three NFL seasons (29 games), all with the Ravens
  • 2005: Khari Long, DE, Baylor — Drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs, played one game of one NFL season with the Chiefs
  • 2006: Charlie Johnson, OT, Oklahoma State — Drafted by the Indianapolis Colts, played nine NFL seasons (134 games) with the Colts and Minnesota Vikings
  • 2007: Drew Mormino, C, Central Michigan-Drafted by the Miami Dolphins, never played an NFL regular-season game
  • 2008: Robert Henderson, DE, Southern Miss — Drafted by the New York Giants, never played an NFL regular-season game
  • 2009: Stryker Sulak, DE, Missouri — Drafted by the Oakland Raiders, never played an NFL regular-season game
  • 2010: Joe Webb, QB, UAB — Drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, has played 10 NFL seasons (104 games) with the Vikings, Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, and New York Giants (currently with the Giants)

The 199th picks from 2011-2020

As mentioned earlier, Rams free safety Jordan Fuller seems like the best candidate to make a Pro Bowl of the current No. 199 picks in the NFL as he recently finished up a fantastic rookie campaign in LA with 60 tackles and three interceptions in 12 games. One of his picks came in a Week 11 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he intercepted none other than fellow No. 199 pick Tom Brady. So that’s fun.

  • 2011: Jerrell Powe, DT, Ole Miss — Drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs, played four NFL seasons (28 games) with the Chiefs and Houston Texans
  • 2012: Jason Slowey, OT, Western Oregon — Drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, never played an NFL regular-season game
  • 2013: Theo Riddick, RB, Notre Dame — Drafted by the Detroit Lions, has played seven NFL seasons (88 games) with the Lions and Las Vegas Raiders (currently with the Raiders)
  • 2014: Garrett Scott, OT, Marshall — Drafted by the Seattle Seahawks, never played an NFL regular-season game
  • 2015: Leterrius Walton, DT, Central Michigan-Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, played four NFL seasons (36 games), all with the Steelers
  • 2016: Cody Core, WR, Ole Miss — Drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, played four NFL seasons (51 games) with the Bengals and New York Giants
  • 2017: Chase Roullier, C, Wyoming — Drafted by Washington, has played four NFL seasons (59 games), all with Washington
  • 2018: Luke Falk, QB, Washington State — Drafted by the Tennesee Titans, played three games for the New York Jets in 2019
  • 2019: Gerri Green, DE, Mississippi State — Drafted by the Indianapolis Colts, has not yet played an NFL regular-season game (currently with the Raiders)
  • 2020: Jordan Fuller, S, Ohio State — Drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, played 12 games with the Rams in 2020

Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference

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