the greg hill show: Bill belichick on the return of tom brady
When the Patriots welcome the Eagles to Gillette Stadium this weekend, there won’t be an elephant in the room - but rather a GOAT.
The team is welcoming back long-time franchise quarterback Tom Brady to Foxborough this coming weekend in what has been dubbed the “Thank You, Tom” game, an honoring that will likely include a wave from the press box, a montage on the stadium’s new video board, and a half-time speech from the former signal caller.
Ahead of Sunday's contest, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick joined WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show on Monday morning and was asked if there’s a memory that encapsulates he and Brady’s time together in New England:
"Well, there's six of them that come to mind,” he said with a chuckle, referring to the six Super Bowl titles that they earned together.
Belichick continued:
“Can’t say enough about Tom, what he’s meant to this organization, what he's meant to me personally. He just epitomized everything that you would want in a player,” the head coach explained. “His work ethic, his ability to handle and process a lot of things on and off the field. His critical play-making ability and instinctiveness and anticipation and decision-making at the most critical times in the biggest games in the team’s history, not to mention seasons.
For so many years he just set a standard of daily performance, which turned into yearly performance, which turned into not only a Hall of Fame career but probably the best career of all time in the National Football League and he did it on a day-to-day basis. I’d say that was really the biggest thing about Tom that’s so impressive is what you got from him every day was that same level of commitment, work ethic, performance, attention to detail, and, you know, inquisitiveness and coachability.
Tom was always looking to get better, and improve, and wanted to find ways to be a little bit better than he was, no matter how good he was, and that’s really a great, great attitude to have from a player and a person of his ability and performance and production.”
There was a thought ever since Brady left the Patriots for Tampa Bay ahead of the 2020 season that there was a major rift between the two. While that may have certainly been the case at the time, it now sounds like water under the bridge. Not only does Belichick continue to speak highly of his former quarterback, but Brady had him on his podcast this offseason when he announced his retirement from football, which included both laughs and tears.
While the breakup may have been hard (for not only them, but fans of the organization and the NFL), it's what makes the reconciliation that much sweeter.
Belichick also spoke about facing off against the NFC champion Eagles, quarterback Mac Jones, and more on Monday’s edition of The Greg Hill Show on WEEI. Listen to the full interview here.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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