Tom Brady Makes Honest But Unsurprising Admission About Patriots Exit
It was Belichick or Brady
It’s been long enough that the shock factor regarding Tom Brady’s departure from the Patriots has worn off.
Brady has even explained the decision a time or two, but it’s been hard for fans in New England to fully accept the reasoning behind it. It’s no longer shocking, but when hearing that the greatest dynasty in sports history ended due to Brady’s unwillingness to continue working with Bill Belichick, it’s gotta hurt, right?
“The Dynasty” docuseries on Apple TV+ wrapped up Friday, and in the final episode we got down to brass tacks regarding Brady’s departure. Patriots owner Robert Kraft was left with a choice, and chose Belichick.
“I thought, what an amazing job our staff did under the leadership of Bill,” Kraft said of his thoughts following Super Bowl LIII. “If I had a thought that Bill was losing it as a head coach and couldn’t perform, he had reestablished himself. At that point, Tommy understood Bill would be the head coach for a number of years moving forward.”
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Brady understood it, but wasn’t going to continue working in an environment he’d no longer enjoyed being in.
“Me and Coach Belichick, we did what we loved and competed for 20 years together, but I wasn’t going to re-sign another contract, even if I wanted to play until 50,” Brady said. “I knew that, based on how things had gone, I wasn’t going to sign up for more of it.”
Belichick, to his credit, held no ill will following Brady’s decision.
“I would say that’s kind of what I expected, but you know, there’s always kind of the, you know, saying goodbye is always hard, um, and I loved coaching Tom, loved having him on our football team,” Belichick said, choosing his words very carefully. “At that point in time, I think he made the right, and the best, decision.”
“Life is very imperfect. Relationships are imperfect, but I’m very proud of our journey,” Brady said, tying things up in a neat bow. “It was hard, but, um, it was great.”
