The problems worsened over the years. One time, when Brady took the offense out to eat, the quarterback asked Moss what he was ordering. Moss said, "I dunno, Tommy, I'm thinking the shrimp fra diavolo." Brady was doubly incensed, because he was called "Tommy" and because he was going to order the same dish. Begrudgingly, Brady ordered the veal parm.
Following the Patriots' Week 1 victory this year, Moss spoke out against the Patriots, saying he wasn't "appreciated" and that it would likely be his final season in New England. Watching on a TV from the trainer's room, Brady wasn't upset at Moss' comments. He was instead peeved that Moss had the audacity to wear a San Francisco Giants hat crooked. Brady grew up in San Mateo, Calif., and believes a Giants cap deserves more respect than that.
The mutual distaste came to a head last week when, as we all know thanks to CBS' Charley Casserly, the two players were in a heated exchange in a situation that can only be described as BeardGate/You Look Like a Little GirlGate. Because Brady didn't approve of Moss' beard and because Moss likewise thought Brady's long hair made him look like a little girl, the team was forced to trade its best receiver.
(Unfortunately, none of what you just read is true.)
While the world spent much of last week trying to figure out exactly why Randy Moss was traded away from the Patriots, Casserly tried to go to the source. The former NFL GM-turned reporter must have made some calls to sources within the Patriots organization, trying to figure out what went down that caused the team to cast off its most dangerous offensive weapon.
At some point in those calls, someone told Casserly that Brady told Moss that his beard was unacceptable, and also that Moss told Brady that he should cut his hair because he looks like a little girl.
At that point, Casserly probably should have hung up the phone and given up. Obviously, he wasn't getting the truth.
Instead, Casserly went on live television to report (with a straight face, mind you) on BeardGate/You Look Like a Little GirlGate.
Now, it should be noted that this is the same Charley Casserly who was the subject of a Bill Belichick mini-tirade just last year.
"Who's been wrong more than Charley Casserly since he left the Redskins?" Belichick said last year, after Casserly reported Brady was playing with broken ribs. "His percentage is like a meteorologist. He has no relationship to this team. I'd say less than zero. … He's never at a practice, never at a game. … Like he usually is, he was 100 percent wrong."
Of course, it should also be noted that Casserly wasn't exactly imagining that rib injury, but Belichick's harsh words indicate that there probably aren't too many people on New England's payroll who are willing to talk to the guy.
It doesn't help Casserly's case that every report that's followed has said his is false. CSNNE's Tom E. Curran asked a source "well-placed enough to know without question whether or not it happened." That source said that it didn't happen. Sports Illustrated's Peter King asked two "highly placed sources," one of which told him plainly, "Someone is lying to CBS."
It doesn't take one of the NFL's most famous reporters to know that.
In all seriousness though, the chances that Brady didn't appreciate Moss' behavior over the past few months aren't exactly unimaginable. After all, they were both in the final years of their contracts, and they both handled it in completely opposite ways. Brady refused to really say much about his desire for a new deal, and he certainly never said a bad word about his employer.
Moss, obviously, took a different route. Just days after calling out the Patriots, he went on a media tour to promote an invisible bank and talk about how much money he wanted. At that point, Brady was probably not all that pleased, and maybe he did speak to his teammate. Still, that would not be enough to force a trade, nor would it likely lead to any facial hair-related insults.
While it would have been nice to hear the exact reasons for the trade, the fact is we will likely never know. Perhaps in 20 years, when Belichick is approaching the age of 80, he'll pen his memoirs. Maybe then we'll get an idea, but we probably shouldn't be holding our breath.
For now, we'll just have to piece together whatever information we can and try to make sense of the deal. We can start by throwing the BeardGate/You Look Like a Little GirlGate report right in the trash.
