Drew Bledsoe remembers the feeling of standing on the Rich Stadium turf, warming up for his first professional football game and seeing Bruce Smith jog out of the tunnel.
“I was like, ‘Man, I’m in the wrong place,’ ” Bledsoe said with a laugh this week. “ ‘I don’t need to be anywhere in the vicinity of that dude.’ ”
Next came Jim Kelly, the quarterback Bledsoe had idolized. Kelly ran by, slapped Bledsoe on the butt and said, “Good luck, rook.”
“I wanted to stop and get an autograph,” Bledsoe said.
Perhaps no one can understand better than Drew Bledsoe what Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold will be feeling Monday night in Detroit.