'How many Super Bowls have you won since I left?'
Even when their working relationship was at its lowest point, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick always took the politically correct path for talking about one another.
But on Sunday night, the gloves came off.
The pair of Patriots legends traded playful jabs when they took the stage for Netflix’s “The Roast of Tom Brady.” Belichick didn’t go at Brady too hard, but the lengths the legendary quarterback went to roast his former coach might have surprised even the most diehard New England fans.
“Everybody asks me: Which ring is my favorite? I used to say, ‘The next one.’ But now that I’m retired, my favorite ring is the camera that caught Coach Belichick slinking out of that poor girl’s house at 6 a.m. a few months ago,” Brady said. “Hey, you still got it. Respect, baby.
“You know, we’ve been through so much and after two decades, I finally had to admit that all along it was you. You’re the reason for the Patriots’ dynasty because you, Bill Belichick, you are a true coaching genius. I mean, you had to choose between an aging, overplayed, injured Drew Bledsoe and a young, healthy, minimum-wage superstar. I could have got a coach from (expletive) Foxboro High School to make that decision. Run it again, Belichick.
“I’ve been out of the game for a minute, so I’m curious. How many Super Bowl rings have you won since I left? Maybe it’s not just the guy on the sideline. When I got to the Indy 500, I don’t ask the winning driver, ‘Hey, who gassed up your car?'”
Brady wasn’t the only former Patriot who relished the opportunity to have some fun with the future Pro Football Hall of Fame coach. Super Bowl winners Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman got their shots in, too.
It felt like a borderline therapeutic night for the pillars of the Patriot dynasties. After years of staying tight-lipped and keeping everything under wraps, the franchise legends finally were able to put their hair down for a memorable night in Los Angeles.