EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Without having started a game since high school, Matt Cassel found himself in New England in 2005 working alongside Tom Brady, already had a three-time Super Bowl winner.
In the quarterback room, on the field, Cassel became Brady's shadow. Given the chance to learn from one of the league's best quarterbacks, Cassel wasn't going to be the shy rookie in the background.
"He was very talkative as a rookie," Brady recalled Wednesday. "I had to make sure that he didn't overstep his bounds from time to time. But that's part of his personality. He's very energetic. He's got just a great personality. He's very intense. He's always been that way since the day I met him."
There was Cassel, a surprising seventh-round draft pick by New England, getting the chance to work with perhaps the shining example of a late-round success story. Brady, a former sixth-round draft pick, mentored Cassel and the two forged a lasting friendship; two players who rose from unexpected backgrounds.
Sunday will mark the first time Brady and Cassel have faced each other on the field when the Minnesota Vikings host the Patriots. The two are golf partners and get together in the offseason.
"It's a relationship that I'm very fortunate to have," Cassel said. "He's a guy that I bounce stuff off of. We talk every other week. We probably won't talk this week, I'm guessing. At the same time, he's a great friend. He was a great mentor to me when I was there and I'm really grateful I had that opportunity to work with him and learn from him."
Cassel made his impression on Brady early, the similarities perhaps bringing the two together.
Brady -- five years older at 37 -- and Cassel both hail from California. While Brady left for the Midwest to attend Michigan, Cassel stayed close to home at USC.
Brady struggled to break through and found himself deep down the depth chart as Brian Griese started for the Wolverines. Brady eventually won the starting job as a junior, but still had to compete with Drew Henson and shared time as a senior. Cassel didn't start a single game with the Trojans, stuck behind Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.
Neither looked like a future NFL quarterback, let alone future starters. Yet, New England took a chance on each.
"Those two players really worked well together," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "(Cassel) had the opportunity to watch Tom and learn from Tom when he came into the league. Very competitive and hard-working player with a lot of talent and I think he made Tom better and they made each other better."
Even small lessons meant the difference, and still impact Cassel today.
"I remember when I was a young quarterback and we're out at practice and I forgot a motion, and I still hit the pass," Cassel recalled Wednesday. "But he got after me pretty good about forgetting the motion. The whole point to why he did it, he said, 'Look, you can't be a guy and seen as a leader if you're making mistakes, simple mistakes, on the field. You can't be a guy that goes up and tries to get after somebody else if you're making those mistakes.'
"And I thought it was a great point and I've carried that with me wherever I've gone."
Coincidentally, they got their first break in the NFL the same way.
In the second game of the 2001 season, Brady replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe. He started 14 games and helped New England win the Super Bowl.
Cassel's opportunity came in his fourth season. Brady suffered a knee injury in the season opener. Cassel started 15 games, completed 63.4 percent of his passes for 3,693 yards and 21 touchdowns to 11 interceptions as the Patriots went 11-5 and still missed the playoffs.
"I think that everybody was skeptical -- probably even to a point myself -- when I first got the nod and got the opportunity because I hadn't started a game since high school," Cassel told New England reporters on Wednesday. "But at the same time, I knew through my preparation and also working diligently throughout the course of the week and also over the years that I had the ability to do it."
Brady returned from his knee injury in 2009, entrenched as New England's quarterback. Cassel turned the experience gained into a free-agent deal and starting job with the Kansas City Chiefs.
But while Brady has built on his Hall of Fame career, Cassel has dealt with being forced out of Kansas City and persevering through a three-quarterback rotation last year to become Minnesota's unquestioned starter this year.
"Things were never easy for him," Brady said. "They weren't easy in high school. They weren't easy in college. Certainly when he got to the professional level they weren't easy. There was a lot of competition, which really tested his mettle and it served him really well over the course of his career.
"He's had a lot of adversity and he's dealt with it, and I think that's made him a strong person, a strong player and really a great teammate."
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