Maybe if Bill Belichick treated Tom Brady differently the last few years he was with the Patriots the quarterback would still be in New England.
At least that's what Brady's personal trainer and close friend indicated in an interview with Karen Guergian of The Boston Herald.
“The interesting thing I think there — and this is just me, an outsider looking in — it was like Bill never really … I think his emotions or feelings never evolved with age,” Guerrero said. “I think in time, with Tom, as Tom got into his late 30s or early 40s, I think Bill was still trying to treat him like that 20-year-old kid that he drafted. And all the players, I think, realized Tom was different.
“He’s older, so he should be treated differently. And all the players, none of them would have cared that he was treated differently. I think that was such a Bill thing. He never evolved. So you can’t treat someone who’s in his 40s like they’re 20. It doesn’t work.”
Guerrero pointed out it seemed like Belichick changed a bit when it came to how he treated Cam Newton, Brady's successor.
“It’s interesting, if you look at how Bill looks at some of these other players, it looks to me like he’s been able to modify or change a little bit,” he said. “Maybe he’s forced to. If you’re going to be a coach, a coach should be the one to modify or make changes.”
Earlier in the week Tom Brady Sr. said the Bucs winning the Super Bowl served as vindication.
Guerrero wouldn't go that far.
“People could have made different choices, and they could have rode out into the sunset together. That could have been a pretty cool story, too,” he said. “At the end of the day, when we prepare to play, we have a lot of drive and determination and will. I don’t know that we prepare or have the drive and determination or will to win through vindication. … We have the drive and the will and the determination to win because we love winning.”
There likely will be plenty more stories on this subject as the game isn't for another 10 days.