From the field to the vineyard: charting Drew Bledsoe’s remarkable journey

Drew Bledsoe has had an interesting athletic career and life. Many know him as the quarterback Tom Brady replaced with the New England Patriots, but Bledsoe had a respected NFL tenure and has developed an impressive wine-making operation after he hung up his jersey. We’ll take a closer look at the journey he’s had. Statistics are sourced from Football Reference.

The story of Drew McQueen Bledsoe begins in Ellensburg, Washington in 1972. His dad, Mac, was a football coach, who hosted a camp that professional players and coached attended, according to Great Northwest Wine.

This gave Drew the exposure and motivation early on to become a great football player.

Bledsoe didn’t go far from home when it came time to choose which college football program he would play for. He was a sensational quarterback for Washington State University, throwing for 6,897 yards in his three years there.

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Bledsoe was also named Pac-10 Offensive Player Of The Year in 1992.

The New England Patriots believed that Bledsoe was a legitimate franchise quarterback, as they took him with the first overall pick in the 1993 Draft. Even though he was eventually replaced by Brady, Bledsoe had some great moments with the team.

He led them to a Super Bowl appearance in 1996, and played well in relief of Brady in the 2001 AFC title game.

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After Brady took over the Patriots starting gig in 2001, Bledsoe found a new home the following year with the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills.

He would end up playing three seasons there, and made the Pro Bowl in his first year with the team. Bledsoe would end his Bills tenure with a 23-25 career record.

The prototypical pocket passer would spend the final two years of his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys. Bledsoe was reunited with the coach who initially drafted him, Bill Parcells.

The veteran led Dallas to a 9-7 record in 2005 before eventually being replaced by the younger Tony Romo in 2006.

After Bledsoe’s playing days were over, he knew that he wanted to end up right back where he started; in Washington. According to Robb Report, Drew and his wife Maura planted the seeds for the McQueen Vineyard in 2007 in Walla Walla.

This was the beginning of a wine-ding road (pun intended) of success in this realm.

Bledsoe received some sage wisdom from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who told him to never go halfway with any venture, according to Land Report. This attention to detail and quality has propelled Bledsoe and his winery business to heights that he and his wife had never dreamed of.

In the NFL and in the business world, it’s important to have colleagues to rely on. Bledsoe identified a couple of integral pieces to the puzzle that have helped him succeed on the vineyard. He worked with Chris Figgins as his first winemaker according to Land Report, and leans on Josh McDaniels (not the former NFL coach) as his leading business confidant.

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According to Northwest Wine Report, Bledsoe Wine Estates owned 370 acres of land in Walla Walla Valley, and another 80 acres of land in Willamette Valley as of 2022. They also have a tasting room in Bend, Oregon. Now in his early fifties, it seems like Bledsoe is in the prime of his career in a completely different arena than where he started.