Jesse Kaye, former scout for the Green Bay Packers, died Saturday, June 3, at a suburban Green Bay health care facility. He was 79 and had been in failing health since suffering a stroke in 2016.
While Kaye handled a myriad of duties during his five years with the Packers, he was best remembered in league circles for the glowing report he wrote on quarterback Tom Brady when he was scouting for the New York Jets in advance of the 2000 draft. Kaye's scouting career covered roughly 30 years.
As a senior, Brady's playing time at the University of Michigan had diminished as a result of a platoon arrangement with sophomore Drew Henson and his draft stock never improved from a late-round tag in what turned out to be one of the worst quarterback classes in history except for Brady and Chad Pennington.