It may not surprise anybody, but Tom Brady has finally admitted that he and Bill Belichick weren’t the best of buds ahead of his move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady, of course, spent the first 20 years of his illustrious 23-year career with the New England Patriots and Belichick was his coach.
The duo found massive amounts of success, winning six of their nine Super Bowls played in; but it’s long been reported, and even said by owner Robert Kraft, that the two had some tension which eventually led to their divorce.
In his most recent edition of his newsletter, Brady confirmed that to be the case, even admitting that his impending free agency was on his mind. “It was a creeping decision that lived passively in the back of mind for [two to three] years. Until March of 2020 when a whirlwind of a few days made me realize that a decision was coming sooner rather than later,” Brady wrote.
“After 20 years together, a natural tension had developed between where Coach Belichick and I were headed in our careers, and where the Patriots were moving as a franchise. It was the kind of tension that could only be resolved by some kind of split or one of us reassessing our priorities.”
And that’s exactly what happened. Brady went to Tampa, where he won his seventh and final Super Bowl.
The two appear to have made amends; Belichick was invited to Brady’s roast and Patriots Hall of Fame induction. The two reportedly spoke about the open Las Vegas Raiders job (Brady owns a stake in the team) before they hired Pete Carroll, and Belichick eventually moved on to the University of North Carolina.
They are undoubtedly the greatest quarterback-coach duo of all time, but even their success couldn’t get them through the most difficult times; just a quick separation and time.
