Tom Brady's final conversation with Bill Belichick as a member of the New England Patriots was a popular topic of discussion last week.
Brady shared his side of the story Sunday night.
During the leadup to Sunday's Patriots-Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup, excerpts from Seth Wickersham's new Patriots book, "It's Better to Be Feared," claimed Belichick refused to meet with Brady in person after the quarterback decided to leave New England. The two spoke on the phone, which Brady viewed as "telling," according to Wickersham's sources.
Belichick said this report was "not true." Brady shared some additional context, telling NBC Sports' Peter King that the two did not meet face-to-face because Belichick was out of town.
"We'd known each other for 20-plus years," Brady told King after the Bucs defeated the Patriots 19-17 in the QB's return to Gillette Stadium. , "and when I left here, we just didn’t have a chance -- he was out of town -- to meet. When I went down to Tampa, it was COVID. I was thinking about my season and so was he. It was just, we've known each other for a long time, and we didn't have a chance to talk, and (Sunday night) we did, and it was great."
Brady and Belichick's on-field embrace after Sunday's game lasted just a split second, but the two then met for an extended conversation in the Buccaneers locker room. Brady declined to reveal details about their chat in his postgame news conference, calling it "very private."
"I would say so much is made of our relationship," Brady said. "And, as I said earlier this week, from a player standpoint, you just expect the coach to give you everything he's got. And I'm sure as a player, that’s what he was hoping from me."
