All of the chatter and the rumors about the football future of Tom Brady hasn’t bothered Bruce Arians. The 69-year-old Bucs head coach has been around the NFL long enough to know that’s the nature of the beast.
What doesn’t sit right with Arians is when his bond and working partnership with the future Hall of Fame quarterback is called into question.
There’s been scuttlebutt of late that indicated a fracturing relationship with Arians played a hand in Brady walking away from the Bucs — and the game of football as a whole if you believe the 44-year-old truly is done playing. Former Patriots offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger, who played alongside Brady for parts of two seasons in New England, was the latest to toss kindling on this fire when he tweeted he’d heard the quarterback’s relationship with Arians had “soured.”
Arians, who’d largely kept quiet since Brady made his retirement announcement a few weeks ago, couldn’t bite his tongue any longer.
“It seems like there’s one (story) every day now,” Arians told the Tampa Bay Times. “Everybody is speculating he’s going somewhere else. That don’t bother me. This other (expletive), the relationship thing, that’s so far-fetched.”
Ohrnberger added details to his claim, reporting Arians would rehab his Achilles injury in the early morning while Brady and Tampa offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich would go over the game plan for the week. According to the former O-lineman, Arians then would “take the red pen” to the work Brady and Leftwich did together.
“I mean, that’s such (expletive),” Arians said. “That’s what pisses me off. I guess probably Byron could corroborate this, too.”
Arians continued: “First of all, I don’t rehab my Achilles in the morning. I will go over the game plans and add things, but I don’t delete anything. I don’t have to because they do such a good job.
“I’ll see some things. Add some things. It’s an awesome collaboration, one of the best I’ve ever been around.”
The main takeaway here might be that Ohrnberger isn’t a credible source of news. The five-year NFL veteran also reported Patrick Mahomes asked his fiancée and brother not to attend Chiefs games next season, which the Kansas City quarterback effectively laughed off.
