Ex-Patriot Weighs In On Tom Brady Sr.’s ‘Hot Seat’ Remark About Bill Belichick

Tom Brady’s father recently made headlines with a noteworthy remark about the star quarterback’s former head coach.

An ex-Patriot believes the comment was misconstrued, however.

Shortly after the first-year Tampa Bay Buccaneer punched his ticket to his 10th career Super Bowl appearance, Tom Brady Sr. in an interview with the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian appeared to jab Bill Belichick. Brady Sr. said that Belichick, whose Patriots went 7-9 in their first post-Brady season, is “a little bit on the hot seat.”

Rob Ninkovich, who played in New England for eight seasons, attempted to decipher the remark Thursday during an appearance on “The Greg Hill Show.”

“As far as the hot seat thing, I don’t think he means anything about his job security or anything like that,” Ninkovich said, as transcribed by WEEI. “It’s just like, Tom goes to the Super Bowl and the Pats look like they have to turn this whole thing around, so all eyes are going to be on the Patriots and how they move forward this offseason. That’s pretty much how I took it.”

The reaction to Brady Sr.’s Belichick comment probably was overblown. The signal-caller’s father followed up the remark with a refreshing take on the tired Brady vs. Belichick debate, and TB12 appears to have nothing but fond memories from his 20-year run in Foxboro.

So while football fans surely would enjoy the drama of a Belichick-Brady feud, it sure seems like both future Hall of Famers have moved on and maintain mutual respect.