There was clearly tension between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick during the quarterback’s final seasons with the New England Patriots.
Brady would give subtle jabs regarding their relationship and the Seth Wickersham piece broke the story wide open. This likely was the reason Brady left in his forties to pursue an opportunity in free agency — which ended up working out tremendously. Brady had 40 touchdowns in the regular season last year and he won four post-season games to secure the Super Bowl win.
While speaking with NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran on The Patriots Talk podcast, Tom Brady’s father opened up about the 2020 offseason.
“Damn right,” Brady Sr. said. “Damn right. Belichick wanted him out the door and last year he threw 56 touchdowns. I think that’s a pretty good year.”
He was asked if Brady felt the same way.
“Damn right,” he said.
He couldn’t go without showing appreciation for his son’s time with the Patriots that ended with a 20-year dynasty that produced six Super Bowl wins.
“Tommy is extraordinarily appreciative of everything that happened during his New England career, and he’s more than happy that he’s moved on because it was pretty obvious that the Patriot regime felt that it was time for him to move on. And frankly, it may well have been perfect for Belichick to move on from him,” he said. “On the other hand, I think the Tampa Bay Bucs are pretty happy that the decision was made in Foxboro that they didn’t want to afford him or didn’t want to keep him when his last contract came up.”
The city wasn’t the issue for Brady Sr., it was primarily the relationship between his son and Belichick.
“That was our home for 20 years,” Brady Sr. said. “The fans embraced Tommy, the city embraced Tommy and the team embraced Tommy for a while. And so, when he comes home it’s gonna be a real treat that he spent 20 years making his mark in Boston. We owe a lot to the Patriots and a lot to Boston.
“Like every phase in life, things move on. Our kids get older, our kids move on. They move out of the house, they go elsewhere. And that’s kind of what it’s like for Tommy right now where he’s moved elsewhere and wherever he is, we support our kids, and Tommy’s no different than the rest of us.”
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