Former Steelers GM Kevin Colbert's Biggest Regret Is Missing On Tom Brady

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a history of success, as they have won multiple Super Bowls in different decades. They've drafted a long list of Hall of Famers as well. Pittsburgh has managed to win two Super Bowls since the turn of the century, but it could have been a lot more if it weren't for Kevin Colbert's biggest regret from his time as the Steelers general manager. 

Colbert served as the Steelers general manager from 2000 through the 2022 NFL Draft, which is when he retired and Omar Khan took over. Colbert appeared on Cam Heyward's podcast, Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, during the Steelers draft party on the third day of the 2024 NFL Draft. The two talked about Heyward's draft process, what Colbert looked for in a player during the draft process, and also what Colbert's biggest regret was from his time drafting players for Pittsburgh.

"There's always guys you're going to look at and say, 'Wow, in the whole universe, we missed on Tom Brady,' that's a living, breathing, walking legend. Going in the sixth round, that's unusual, that doesn't happen too often. Then we ended up chasing him. We had our own successes, but, obviously Tom Brady had a lot of successes. The Patriots did great putting together successful seasons, and that's the challenge of this whole endeavor. If you ask me for one, I'll always go with that because that was my first year here." 

Tom Brady is widely considered the greatest football player of all-time, and he was selected in the sixth round with the 199th overall pick during the 2000 NFL Draft. Brady would go on to win more Super Bowls than any other franchise, as he won seven, six with the New England Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady holds a litany of NFL records, and he will certainly be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he is first eligible in 2027.

Every team in the NFL could say they missed on Brady, since he didn't get drafted until round six. The Steelers actually truly did miss on Brady. Pittsburgh selected a quarterback 163rd, just 36 spots ahead of Brady. The quarterback the they drafted was Tee Martin, who never found his footing in the NFL and bounced around multiple leagues before retiring after the 2005 season. By the time Martin retired, Brady had already won three Super Bowls. 

Brady took down the Steelers more than once in the postseason to get to the big game, and he did it three times in the AFC Championship. Pittsburgh failed to get past Brady during the 2001, 2004, and 2016 seasons, and Brady and the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl each time. Had it not been for Brady, the Steelers could have a few more Lombardi Trophies to display. 

Steelers And Colbert Quickly Made Up For Brady Mistake

As soon as Brady took over the starting job for New England during his second season in 2001, it was clear everyone in the league made a mistake passing on him. Colbert quickly took action to fix his mistake, as he drafted Ben Roethlisberger in first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Roethlisberger would go on to lead Pittsburgh to the AFC Championship in his rookie year, where Pittsburgh fell to Brady. Roethlisberger began his career going 13-0 as a starter in the regular season after taking over for Tommy Maddox.

Roethlisberger brought Pittsburgh to Super Bowl XL during the 2005 season where the Steelers took down the Seattle Seahawks for their first Super Bowl Championship since the 1970s. Pittsburgh didn't have to play Brady during that postseason, and they won the Super Bowl again in 2008 during a season in which Brady was hurt.