There is one rule we should all follow heading into Sunday’s clash between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick: don’t believe anything the two all-time greats are now saying publicly.
The spin control started early Monday morning, when Belichick, fresh off the Patriots’ dismal 28-13 loss to the Saints, told “The Greg Hill Show” he always wanted TB12 to come back — despite never offering Brady the long-term security he was craving.
“He looked at his options and made his decision. We weren’t as good of an option as Tampa,” Belichick said. “You’d have to ask him about all that, but it wasn’t a question of not wanting him that’s for sure.”
That’s quite the misinterpretation of history. The only contractual reward the Patriots provided Brady in his final season was an incentive-laden one-year pay bump that he had little chance of reaching, due to the team’s sorry group of pass-catchers.
That offseason, the Patriots allowed Belichick to lead negotiations with Brady, and there apparently wasn’t much dialogue. There was one unproductive phone call, according to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran, and then the Patriots waited for Brady to initiate the next steps.
It was clear Brady wanted a multi-year commitment, which the Buccaneers provided him in the form of a two-year, $50 million deal. Ultimately, that’s why Brady preferred Tampa Bay. The Bucs showed faith in him. Belichick was ready to move on. And Robert Kraft, despite his repeated claims he never wanted Brady to finish his career elsewhere, let it happen.
We know Belichick was preparing for life after Brady the moment he drafted Jimmy Garoppolo and spoke ominously about Brady’s “age and contract situation.” We also know the relationship between Belichick and Brady turned acrimonious: banning Alex Guerrero from the locker room and sidelines; Gisele’s statement about how her husband just wants to “feel appreciated at work.” Last week, Guerrero all but confirmed Brady was tired of Belichick’s austerity.
“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 told the Herald’s Karen Guregian. “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.”
A couple of days before that, Tom Brady Sr. told Tom Curran he felt vindication for his son after last season’s Super Bowl win. The PR campaign was on.
Now Brady is trying to distance himself from it. On his podcast with Jim Gray, TB12 read a mock statement stressing that his father doesn’t speak for him.
“Comments made by Thomas Edward Brady, a 77-year-old insurance company CEO, who should know better at this point in his life, don't necessarily reflect the views or positions held by his son, Thomas Edward Patrick Brady,” he said.
It’s doubtful Brady told his dad to gloat with Curran or talk about how excited he is to “whoop” the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. But surely, Brady Sr. got those feelings from somewhere. The old man has always been a conduit to his son’s closely guarded ego.
Guerrero almost certainly wouldn’t speak ill of Belichick without Brady’s tacit approval.
This doesn’t mean Belichick and Brady don’t respect each other. They spent 20 years together and won six Super Bowls. But this football marriage ended with rancor and animosity. If everything was going well, Brady would be suiting up for the Patriots Sunday, while Mac Jones, or some other rookie, would be under center for the Bucs.
Sunday night will be a grudge match. Belichick and Brady are just trying to play damage control.
