Tom Brady Sr. keeps needling Bill Belichick.
Is he only speaking for himself?
On Thursday, Brady Sr. took his second gratuitous jab at Belichick in five months, verbally pounding his chest in an apparently spontaneous phone call to the other guys. “I saw the schedule come out last night, and I started salivating when I saw that we play the Patriots in the fourth game of the season and that we're coming up here to make our record 4-0 after the fourth game,” said “Tom in California.”
Later, Brady Sr. expressed his “love for the (Patriots) organization and its fanbase,” but made no secret about what he expects to transpire at Gillette Stadium Oct. 3. "We expect to beat the Patriots rather handily, frankly,” he said.
Now, Tom Brady almost certainly had no idea his dad was going to call up Boston sports talk radio and smack-talk the Patriots. This is not a grand conspiracy, and besides, I hear cell reception on the Wajer 77-foot yacht isn’t all that great, either. It’s amazing how little $6 million can buy these days.
But if Brady didn’t want his father to publicly poke at Belichick, would he still do it? Back in January, Brady Sr. snuck in a dig at the Patriots’ head coach during an interview with the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian.
“I’m guessing (Belichick) is on a little bit of a hot seat right now,” he said.
In the same interview, Brady Sr. lauded Robert Kraft, saying he’s “sincere in his feelings for Tommy when he expresses his feelings, and it’s vice versa.”
Historically, Tom Brady Sr. has seemingly spoken on behalf of his son’s ego. While Brady stayed silent during the Deflategate saga, his dad vehemently defended him, and attacked the league in the process. “This was Framegate right from the beginning,” he said in May 2015.
In the lead-up to Super Bowl LI, Brady Sr. laid into Roger Goodell in wonderfully vicious fashion. “He went on a witch hunt and went in way over his head and had to lie his way out in numerous ways,” he said. “For what the league did to him and what Roger Goodell constantly lied about is beyond reprehensible as far as I’m concerned.”
Brady, of course, never publicly ripped Goodell during the absurd saga. When Brady accepted his suspension, he said he “loves” the NFL and called it a “privilege to be a member of the NFL community.”
During Deflategate, we all viewed Brady Sr. as an impassioned conduit into Brady’s true mindset. The same situation probably applies here.
Brady may not hold animus towards Belichick, but he likely enjoys proving him wrong. Let’s be honest: Belichick didn’t think Brady would still be winning Super Bowls in his mid-40s. This run is about affirmation.
Tedy Bruschi, who also knows Brady pretty well, said Thursday he thinks Brady will want to “crush the Patriots.”
Brady Sr. basically said the same thing.
Most tellingly, Brady Sr. predicted his son’s messy exit in Foxboro. "It will end badly," he said in January 2015. "It does end badly. And I know that because I know what Tommy wants to do. He wants to play till he's 70.”
Talk about clairvoyance.
When Brady left New England, his dad said it was inevitable he would part ways with Belichick. “I thought it was going to be a good move for him whatever happened,” he said. “But I also thought it was going to be good for the Patriots, because that’s what was in the cards. That was the direction it was headed.”
Sometimes, dads can get ahead of themselves. My father once called WEEI to plead for my reinstatement on the morning show.
But nothing he said wasn’t true. I wanted to get back on the air, just like Brady wants to stomp the Patriots (same thing, right)?
“Tom in California” seemingly has a knack for articulating Tom Brady’s true feelings. He must have a good source.
