Tom Brady pulled back the curtain with “Tom vs Time” in a way we’ve seen from very few professional athletes before.
The New England Patriots quarterback’s Facebook documentary series was a wonderfully dressed-up infomercial for the TB12 empire, but the overwhelming access it provided made stomaching the constant pushing of Brady’s non-football endeavors easy.
The final episode, which had to be reworked after the Patriots’ Super Bowl LII loss, offered some of the best behind-the-scenes footage. There was our first look at the nasty hand injury that almost cost Brady his season, and fans also got the chance to eavesdrop on a candid conversation among Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski.
But perhaps the most interesting and revealing tidbit came toward the very end of the episode and the series itself, and it came from Brady’s wife, Gisele Bundchen.
“These last two years have been very challenging for him in so many ways,” she says while driving. “And I think, he tells me ‘I love (football) so much, I just wanna go to work and feel appreciated and have fun.'”
That line about feeling appreciated certainly stands out, doesn’t it? It seems especially pertinent given all of the reported issues in and around the Patriots this season.
Plenty of Patriots fans poo-pooed an ESPN story documenting the supposed issues within the organization. But Patriots owner Robert Kraft — a principal character in that story — admitted there was tension within the organization.
Part of the ESPN story centered around just what Gisele mentioned:Â a lack of appreciation. Much of the reported drama also stemmed from Brady’s relationship with longtime trainer Alex Guerrero. Interestingly, frustration about training methods also reportedly ticked off Gronkowski — who has adopted the TB12 method himself — during the 2017 season.
According to reports, head coach Bill Belichick finally had enough and revoked some of Guerrero’s access. That even made into an episode of “Tom vs Time” as Guerrero worked on Brady inside a Gillette Stadium suite.
Kind of interesting that Brady — who has final say on what makes the show and what doesn’t — decided to leave that in, huh? The same can be said for the Gisele quote, too.
None of is this is to say the Brady/Belichick/Kraft relationship is on the verge of complete disintegration. They’re a little more than a month removed from their eighth Super Bowl appearance.
But it’s an interesting little nugget from a fascinating look at one of the best athletes of all time.
