Bill Belichick Reportedly Told Tom Brady This In Infamous 2021 Meeting

The Bill Belichick era came to an end in Foxboro after parting ways with the New England Patriots on Thursday.

In the hours since Belichick’s departure, more details are emerging about some highlight moments in the final years of his tenure. Maybe the biggest moment toward the end of his tenure came when Tom Brady returned as a visitor when the Patriots hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Gillette Stadium in Week 4 of the 2021 season.

In the battle of legends, Brady’s Buccaneers snuck past Belichick’s Patriots in a rainy 19-17 win. After the game, Brady and Belichick met inside Gillette Stadium for an extended period of time. The conversation marked the first real-time that the two men met in person after Brady departed from New England in March 2020.

In a heavily-detailed new report, ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson discussed what was said leading up to and during the awaited conversation:

After the Buccaneers’ narrow win, Belichick and Brady met alone near the visitors locker room. When Brady left form Tampa, he seemed to have a visceral reaction whenever someone raised Belichick’s name. “He doesn’t know what he’s losing,” Brady previously said after he left. But in Foxborough the two men chatted for 20 minutes, and Brady later told friends that Belichick was conciliatory. Belichick didn’t blame Brady for leaving: He admitted in the meeting that the Buccaneers were better equipped to win in 2020, a season that required a reset of sorts after Belichick publicly said that the team had “sold out.”

It was as close to a concession for how things ended as Belichick was capable of giving. Brady’s grudge against Belichick eased, a confidence rooted in assure that, coming off his Super Bowl triumph, he could afford to be magnanimous.

The relationship between Brady and Belichick has always been a topic of debate in terms of quality and stability, especially with the men on opposite sidelines. In recent times, the two have seemed to move forward with heavy respect for each other with public expressions of appreciation.

After the split following the 2019 season, Brady won Super Bowl LV and made three straight postseason appearances with the Buccaneers before retiring. Belichick and the Patriots struggled with two losing seasons around a lone playoff appearance in 2021 with rookie quarterback Mac Jones.

The Patriots have truly reached the end of a historic chapter with both Brady and Belichick on their own paths outside of New England.