One of the reasons why Tom Brady and then Rob Gronkowski joined Tampa Bay was the different atmosphere than the two were used to in New England.
Bruce Arians is much more laid back than Bill Belichick and that was something that appealed to both players.
Speaking to Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times on Monday, Arians explained some of the things that went on throughout the year, which never would have happened in New England.
“You’ve got to be super involved as a coach, but with [Brady] it’s not about Xs and O’s,” he said. “It’s making sure he’s comfortable and feels good about the game plan and work week. He’d text me and say, ‘Do you mind if I don’t throw Wednesday?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t care.’
“I’d ask him, ‘Do you want to take mental reps or do you just want to sit back?’ He’d say, ‘I just need to sit back.’ And we did that two or three times during the season.”
Brady grew to appreciate the down time.
“Early on, I’d say, ‘Hey, are you taking a day off?’ And he’d say, ‘This will be the last day I ever take off,’” Arians added. “But after a while it was like, ‘Do you mind if I take off Wednesday?’”
And Gronkowski became part of this, too.
“Even with Gronk I’d say, ‘Dude, you’re not practicing on Wednesdays. I need you on Sunday. I don’t need you on Thursday,’” Arians said. “And he was like, 'Oh, man, I’ll be fresh. I’ll be like, super.’ I told him that if he ever needed a day off, he should just let me know. Because he never had days off before.”
Arians also confirmed Brady had an idea even before he signed with Tampa Bay that Gronkowski would be willing to come out of retirement.
“We started the free agency process, and he knew every player on our team,” Arians said. “He knew everything about us. I’m trying to do the sales pitch, ‘Hey, Florida’s great, it’s warm, no taxes. And we do have Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, all these guys.
“And he said, ‘Hey, I think Gronk might want to come out of retirement.’ I said, ‘Let’s get you signed up first and then we’ll work on that one.’ It was just a constant collaboration. That getting to know each other and that growing process is just so much fun.”
Things obviously worked out for everyone with Brady winning MVP of Super Bowl LV and Gronkowski hauling in two touchdown passes.
