Unsung Brady just got better and better

The University of Michigan was recruiting Jason Kapsner, the former Eden Prairie quarterback in the mid-1990s.

Before Kapsner decided to commit to the Wolverines in December of 1995, he had studied the Michigan quarterback roster. It included Brian Griese, who was highly recruited, and Tom Brady, now the star quarterback of the New England Patriots, who wasn't a top recruit.

Kapsner wanted to know what the competition was going to be at quarterback.

"Well, what about Tom Brady?" Kapsner said he asked Michigan coaches. "I didn't know anything about the guy, one who wasn't really a top recruit like ... Griese."

"Don't worry about him" was the answer he got.

"And, really, the coaches weren't lying to me. The coaches, early on in Tom's career, I don't think thought too highly of him. Tom really had to work hard to get every rep and every opportunity that he did at Michigan."

Drew Henson, another top national recruit, also joined the quarterback mix at Michigan in the fall of 1998.

"Well, Tom had a good solid two years [his junior and senior years] of playing time. It was intermixed between him and Henson during that time. Tom was the clear starter, but always having to kind of look over his shoulder because, in a lot of ways, the coaches wanted to put in Henson [because] Drew was a great athlete.

"Tom would start a game and then Drew would play the second quarter. It was kind of a hybrid system. But obviously I think Tom's always shown that he's just a winner."

Kapsner said it was a unique situation when Henson enrolled at Michigan.

"When he [Henson] stepped on campus as a true freshman he was competing right there with us for the starting job, and that, at Michigan, that's typically something that doesn't happen," Kapsner said. "You have to kind of earn the right in practice to be competing for that top spot. With Drew, with what he had going on [with a possible baseball career] with the Yankees and his dad being a former coach -- I think he had kind of a good arrangement as he came into the University of Michigan."

Speaking of impressing the coaches at the NFL scouting combine, Kapsner pointed to the video shown during the Giants-Patriots game of Brady running the 40-yard dash.

"It was always pretty clear to me, and I think most of the team, that Tom was the guy who deserved to be starting the whole time. That's who the team wanted, he played better, his stats were better, and it was kind of I think the coaches were trying to force Drew in there and it just wasn't the right move. Tom was clearly the better quarterback and better leader for the team."

Well, Brady, a sixth-round draft choice, has turned out to be one of the greatest quarterbacks in the game. Griese has had a decent NFL career. But Henson tried to make it in baseball with the Yankees and then tried to play in the NFL with Dallas and the Vikings but never made it.

As for Brady, he made one appearance against the Gophers at the Metrodome and played the entire game on Oct. 31, 1998. He completed 19 of 27 passes for 282 yards and one touchdown as the Wolverines won 15-10. Henson played in eight games that year.

Williams case heard The case of former Gophers assistant basketball coach Jimmy Williams, who is suing the University of Minnesota because he quit his assistant coaching job at Oklahoma State thinking he had been hired at Minnesota, was heard Wednesday by Hennepin County District Judge Regina Chu. The case was not dismissed, as asked by the University, but taken under advisement by the judge.

The Gophers football team picked up two more recruits over the weekend in East Mississippi Community College tackle Tim McGee and running back Deleon Eskridge of San Mateo, Calif., according to GopherIllustrated.com. McGee, ranked a three-star player by recruited services, graduated from Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) in 2006 but didn't sign with a four-year college because he didn't qualify academically. Rivals.com ranks Eskridge No. 34 in the country among all-purpose running backs.

Vinny Cerrato, the Albert Lea native who got his coaching start as the recruiting coordinator for Lou Holtz at Minnesota, has been promoted to executive vice president of football operations for the Washington Redskins.

Kent Hrbek, the outstanding former Twins first baseman, was talking about getting tipped off on pitches and he sang the praises of former Twins pitching coach Dick Such. Hrbek said Such could steal pitches and tip him off better than anybody he was associated with. "By the fifth inning, Such could tell you what the opposing pitcher was throwing as I stood at the plate and got tipped off." ... Longtime Twins bullpen coach Rick Stelmacek is out of intensive care in Chicago after suddenly falling ill. The cause of the illness has yet to be determined. ... Twins President Dave St. Peter says the team has sold 750 new season tickets for this season and said he expects 90 percent of the 2007 ticket-holders will reorder.

Jake Gardiner of Minnetonka High School is the top-ranked Minnesota hockey player among domestic skaters. Central Scouting ranks him 22nd and a potential first-round pick in the NHL draft. Gardiner gives credit for his improvement to Minnesota State Mankato coach Troy Jutting, who recommended to Gardiner that he would be much better as a defenseman than a forward. Minnetonka coach Brian Urick, a former captain at Notre Dame who played in the NHL for the Edmonton Oilers, also played a big part in Gardiner's improvement.

Future Gophers point guard Devoe Joseph of Ajax (Ontario) Pickering High School, scored 21 points in the championship game of the Silver Fox tournament in Toronto and was named the MVP. He has sparked his team to a 36-2 record.

Longtime St. Paul Pioneer Press sports writer Ralph Reeve, 77, who covered the Vikings for many years, died Wednesday. Reeve was one of Bud Grant's favorite writers, and Grant showed how he felt about Ralph by tipping him on more than one story. ... The Gophers will likely be without NCAA wrestling champion Dustin Schlatter because of an injury when they face No. 1 Iowa here Sunday night. ... Former Gophers wrestling star Brock Lesnar is scheduled to face former heavyweight champion Frank Mir in an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Las Vegas on Feb. 2. ... Former Gopher Danny Irmen has four goals and 11 assists for the Wild's Houston farm team.