Seth Wickersham revealed it all. Five years ago, the longtime investigative journalist published his first long-form Patriots expose about an incoming collision between Bill Belichick and Alex Guerrero, foreshadowing the most turbulent period in Tom Brady’s relationship with his all-time great head coach.
The following January, Wickersham wrote another explosive tell-all piece detailing the tension inside of Patriot Place. Though he received an immense amount of pushback at the time, his reporting was accurate. When Brady left the Patriots in free agency, few were surprised. His exit had been building for years, and we knew about it through Wickersham’s reporting, as well as other journalists.
Those stories were preludes to Wickersham’s tell-all book about the rise and fall of the Patriots dynasty, “It’s Better to Be Feared,” which was released last fall — days before Bradys return to Foxborough. The book is now available in paperback with a new epilogue covering the 2021 campaign, including the details of Belichick and Brady’s private meeting following the Buccaneers’ victory over the Patriots on that Sunday night.
Though Brady has been gone for three years, his turbulent exit still hangs over the Patriots, who are experiencing their first tumultuous period in more than two decades. Over the offseason, Robert Kraft remarked about how much their lack of recent playoff success bothers him, and their lackluster performance against the Dolphins Sunday probably didn’t assuage his feelings. The Patriots are facing questions about their talent, coaching staff, young quarterback and Belichick himself. At 70 years old, Belichick is starting to feel the heat.
On this week’s edition of my “Sports Media Mayhem” podcast, I chatted with Wickersham about the uncertain state of the Patriots, from Kraft’s current mindset to Belichick’s future. A condensed portion of our conversation is below:
Alex Reimer: Tom Brady was the difference-maker for the Patriots during their dynastic years. I'm wondering if you think that Robert Kraft has come to that conclusion as well?
Seth Wickersham: I don't think he was *the* difference-maker, but he was such a special player, and when he walked away, I thought there was an emotion that was missing that we had just grown used to over the past two-plus decades of watching football. It was that certainty. There was nobody else who you would want in any situation other than Tom Brady. When he was gone, even if it was just for that month, I felt like the league was kind of missing that, and those who missed it clearly extended to his former team. Yes, they found a competent quarterback in Mac Jones, but the AFC has changed since Brady left, and competence isn't gonna be enough to cut it anymore, especially with the quarterbacks the AFC has. It's overpopulated with great ones. Matt Ryan might be the ninth-best quarterback in the AFC. Mac Jones is gonna have to be better than competent. He's gonna have to be special, and it's unclear whether that will be the case. Obviously the Patriots won the lottery with Tom Brady and developed the hell out of him, but as we know, those special guys don't come around very often. I think without him, the Patriots, they don't have that kind of extra edge that we had become accustomed to them having for so long.
But do you think Robert Kraft has come to that realization?
I think that Bill thought Tom's best days were behind him. He opened the door for Brady to leave, Brady walked right out of it, and Kraft sided with Bill on that decision. He had said for years that Brady was going to retire on his own terms, and that was a guarantee from the top, and Brady ended up walking away on his own terms, but it was because the Patriots had, going back to August 2019, and that contract negotiation that didn't go very well and Brady and Gisele put their house on the market 48 hours after a new contract was announced, he knew that was it. And there's just been more reporting that's come out since then, and penalties for the Miami Dolphins that showed that was the case. And can you imagine just being Robert Kraft watching Tom Brady win a Super Bowl with the freaking Tampa Bay Buccaneers? And then come back to Foxborough as a Buc. I can't even imagine how sick that made him.
That's a good lead-in to my next question about Robert Kraft. Patriots ratings for their loss to the Dolphins were down 25 percent in comparison to their average last year. Obviously, one week does not constitute a trend, but I do think it's telling about the general feel around the team. As the longtime chair of the broadcast committee, how attune do you think Robert Kraft is to those numbers?
It's one of those metrics that the elite owners really take a lot of pride in. Jerry Jones is so proud that the Cowboys outdraw everybody, even though they haven't won a Super Bowl since, what, 1995? He's so proud of the cultural force the Cowboys are. And look, the Patriots are a cultural force. They are a global team. But you always hope that things enter on the highest note, right? And then they continue to build from there. Judging by one week at least, that was obviously a team and obviously a matchup that didn't draw what the Patriots are accustomed to drawing. What does that mean long-term? I doubt very much. But I'm sure it's not a great number for anyone to see, especially someone who takes so much pride in what the Patriots have become over the last two decades.
This offseason, I think it was pretty surprising to hear Kraft make that statement that 'we haven't won a playoff game for three years and no one is more disappointed in that than I am, and also talking a little bit about their lack of drafting success in recent years as well. Do you think that was Robert Kraft truly speaking from the heart, or more of him playing the 'good cop' role to the media?
I think that Robert Kraft can play a role in certain situations, and can have a front in certain situations. I'm guessing that was a sanitized version of his raw feelings. He fired Pete Carroll a year after they had made the playoffs. He is someone who has no appetite for being something other than one of the teams at the end, and he's been blessed beyond belief -- partially because of his own decisions. One could argue trading for Bill Belichick has turned out to be the greatest trade in NFL history. But he's used to being in those situations, and that he's not, and that he might notice the Patriots kind of lost that magic in the years since Tom Brady has left, has to kind of disgust him on a primal level.
Here's an easy one: Belichick. Do you think he will leave on his own accord?
I do. I can't see Robert Kraft forcing a move there, unless Bill was unwilling to walk away, or there were outside circumstances like health reasons. I think it's so far-fetched that it's almost unimaginable. You just think about what Bill Belichick has meant for that franchise, what he's meant for Robert Kraft personally. How he's helped increase everybody's wealth and stature. Even if they go five years without a playoff appearance or playoff win, you still have to think that Bill Belichick could coach that team for as long as he wants. But who knows?
It is interesting that Belichick right now is really the Patriots brand, at this point. You take Belichick out of the equation, what do you have?
There's no doubt, and he's kind of an evolving brand. He's a different coach than he was years ago. Remember that AFC Championship against Jacksonville, and the Patriots are down double digits, and a Brady-led rally sends them to the Super Bowl again, and he has that gashed hand, and Belichick is asked about it at the press conference? Brady isn't even out of the shower, and Belichick says 'it's not open-heart surgery we're talking about.' One of the coldest things you can imagine. And now, they come out against the Dolphins, and really offensively struggled all day, and he's someone who just takes the long view, and I don't want to say makes excuses, but kind of tries to be encouraging and positive in a way that for someone who was such a fierce bottom-liner for his entire Super Bowl run, it's just kind of interesting that since Brady left, that's who he's morphed into. And even when Cam Newton was there, he would kind of, I don't want to say make excuses, but he would justify Cam Newton's performance and give it a positive spin in a way -- man, 2016 season, Brady is out because of the Deflategate suspension, and Belichick is asked a question about Brady's longevity, and manages to turn it into a compliment for Jimmy Garoppolo, saying it was a seamless transition in the offense between the two of them. Just a different guy now. It's really interesting to watch.
One of the big decisions that Belichick has made over the last couple of years is Matt Patricia, and the role he now has in the organization. In your book, you write that the Malcolm Butler benching stemmed from a disagreement he had with Patricia. We've read reports this week that Kendrick Bourne's benching was due to a disagreement with Matt Patricia. Just from afar, it seems like Patricia is being positioned as the heir apparent that even Josh McDaniels never was. Patricia is accompanying Belichick to league meetings, Patricia is signing the contracts, Patricia is now coaching offense, Patricia was publicly given credit for engineering the DeVante Parker trade. I'm curious with all the insight you have, what's up with Matt Patricia? How do you think Bill Belichick views him?
He's an astute football mind. That said, I think there were always coaches who wondered, 'Does Bill have a soft spot for Matt?' It's clear that he values him. What they’re doing offensively I think is an extension of things Bill has done over the years to varying success. In 1995, the Cleveland Browns had 15 coaches, but no offensive coordinator. When Belichick was asked about it, he would say the same things he says now: 'We all pitch in. We all know how to coach offense.' That said, while Belichick has presided over some unbelievable offenses, and maybe the greatest offense in NFL history in 2007, nobody is talking about the early 90s Browns offense as a watershed moment for the league, or even a good offense. The fact that Patricia and Joe Judge and Belichick are so involved in offense, I'm willing to give them a lot of patience, because I think they have a while to find their identity, but all of the reports that came out of training camp, just noted that during practice they weren't sharp. If anyone thought those reports were being overhyped, and that everything would kind of click together once the season started, the performance against the Dolphins showed that definitely wasn't the case.
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What to make of the Patriots’ declining ratings?: The Patriots drew a 23.9 TV rating for their lifeless season-opening loss against the Dolphins Sunday. That figure is significantly down from the Patriots’ opener against the Dolphins last season, which drew a 33.1 rating in Boston
Overall, the Patriots averaged a 31.5 local TV rating last season. That means they’re down 25 percent.
Obviously, a one-week rating drop doesn’t constitute a trend, but it’s indicative of the atmosphere around the team. As the longtime chair of the broadcast committee, Kraft is especially attune to these numbers, as Wickersham explained.
If this slide continues, Kraft could take dramatic action. Remember: the Patriots shelled out a record amount of guaranteed money in free agency and drafted Mac Jones in the first round following their 7-9 Covid season. Kraft is not an owner who rests on his resume.
MNF ratings show NFL’s dominance: Monday night served as a perfect snapshot into the NFL’s cultural dominance. ESPN attracted 19.4 million viewers for Broncos-Seahawks, making it the most-watched season-opening edition of “Monday Night Football” since 2000.
Meanwhile, viewership for the Emmy Awards reached a record low, drawing just 5.9 million viewers.
Ratings for everything are tumbling, except for the NFL. No wonder why they just signed new media rights deals worth $11 billion.
Kellerman’s lame apology: Max Kellerman insinuated this week that Albert Pujols’ late-season hot streak could be due to steroid use. “It is amazing, how Pujols, who was in steady decline for years, suddenly, it’s like he discovered the fountain of youth! I don’t know how he’s doing it!,” said Kellerman.
Predictably, Kellerman took some heat for his scorching hot take. So he kind of walked it back Tuesday, without explicitly saying what his point actually was.
“Some, including Albert, inferred that my curiosity as to how he was achieving this recent level of success could only mean that he was benefiting from something other than a lot of hard work, practice and his natural ability. For that, I apologize to Albert and the Cardinals’ organization,” said Kellerman.
Come on! If Kellerman wasn’t implying that Pujols was using PEDs, what was he talking about? Stand by the take, or don’t say it at all.
