This is the first installment of The McGinn Files, a weekly series looking back at NFL drafts of the last 35 years. The foundation of the series is McGinn’s transcripts from his interviews with NFL general managers, personnel directors and scouts since 1985.



It would be so simple to say the NFL scouting fraternity blew it on Tom Brady and then call it a day.



That would be a disservice to the personnel people who scouted the lanky quarterback during his five years at Michigan and the enormous improvement Brady has made throughout his 20-year career with the New England Patriots.



Brady’s rise from sixth-round draft choice in 2000 to consideration as not only the greatest quarterback but also the greatest player in NFL history almost defies belief. Even now, at age 42, Brady might be playing as well as he ever has.



The collegiate Tom Brady hardly resembled the professional Tom Brady. Given his body of work in Ann Arbor and subsequent workout...