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Sources: Brady "felt trapped", long worried about being "pushed out" by Belichick

jetstream23

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jetstream23

jetstream23

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New book says Tom Brady long worried about being 'pushed out' by Bill Belichick

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady felt trapped this past offseason and was not sure he wanted to play anymore for the only NFL coach he ever has had, Bill Belichick, according to a new book on Belichick's life.

"If you're married 18 years to a grouchy person who gets under your skin and never compliments you, after a while you want to divorce him," a source with knowledge of the Brady-Belichick relationship told ESPN's Ian O'Connor, author of "Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time," after the 2017 season.

"Tom knows Bill is the best coach in the league, but he's had enough of him. If Tom could, I think he would divorce him."

Based on interviews with 350 people (Belichick did not cooperate), the book, due out Sept. 25, reports Brady was so upset with his coach that he still wasn't certain in late March if he would return to the Patriots. "But in the end, even if he wanted to, Brady could not walk away from the game, and he could not ask for a trade," O'Connor wrote. "The moment Belichick moved [Jimmy] Garoppoloto San Francisco, and banked on Brady's oft-stated desire to play at least into his mid-forties, was the moment Brady was virtually locked into suiting up next season and beyond. Had he retired or requested a trade, he would have risked turning an adoring New England public into an angry mob."

ESPN's Seth Wickersham and several Boston outlets had reported on the escalating tension between Brady and Belichick during last season, much of it revolving around the coach's decision to reduce the team access that had been granted to Alex Guerrero, Brady's business partner and fitness coach. Belichick was no longer giving his quarterback the most-favored-nation status he'd enjoyed in the past. New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman recalled in the book that Belichick told him years earlier about a disagreement Brady had with a Patriots strength coach over equipment. "Belichick said, 'If Tom Brady wants it, Tom Brady gets it,'" Cashman said. "If you get a player at that level, you get him what he needs, even if the strength coach says otherwise."

Brady was the league's only starting quarterback who didn't attend voluntary OTAs in the spring; he was also angered by the Malcolm Butler benching in the Super Bowl LII loss to Philadelphia. Asked by broadcaster Jim Gray in late April if he felt appreciated by Belichick and owner Robert Kraft (the quarterback maintains a close relationship with Kraft), Brady responded, "I plead the Fifth! ... Man, that is a tough question."

The transactional relationship between the five-time champs, Brady and Belichick, had been reduced to a stare-down that didn't surprise those in the quarterback's camp. According to the book, Brady's family long felt Belichick would push out his longtime franchise player before he was ready to retire. Brady's sister Nancy is quoted telling people that her brother believed "Belichick will definitely do to him someday what the Colts did to Peyton [Manning]."

Brady started worrying for his job almost immediately after Belichick cited his age and contract status -- and the coach's own desire to be "early rather than late at that position" -- when the Patriots drafted Garoppolo in 2014. One New England assistant said the general feeling among staff members around that time wasn't that Belichick's system could make Super Bowl quarterbacks out of all 32 NFL starters. "But if you gave us any of the top 15, we could do it," the assistant said. "I don't think the coaches view Tom as special as everyone else in football does. Mr. Kraft thinks Tom is the greatest gift ever, but the coaches don't."

Other notable material in the book includes:

Deflategate

  • In the early days of the case, Belichick was among the Patriots officials who had "serious doubts" about Brady's claim he had no involvement in the potential deflation of footballs used in the January 2015 AFC Championship Game victory over the Colts.

  • One person close to Brady said his entire family was "miffed" at Belichick for telling reporters to ask the quarterback about his preferences on game balls, and "very miffed" at Kraft for reluctantly announcing in 2015 that he wouldn't fight Brady's four-game ban. Of the notion Belichick had initially dumped Deflategate in his quarterback's lap, one close friend of Brady's said, "I thought Bill handled it terribly, especially when it involved a guy who'd done everything to help your career as a coach, and you hung him out to dry."

  • Brady told friends that his weak answer to the news conference question about whether he was a cheater -- "I don't believe so" -- didn't betray a consciousness of Deflategate guilt, but rather thoughts of the earlier Spygate conviction and his belief that at least some of the suspicions over the years about alleged Patriots black-ops tactics were likely true.

Spygate

  • During the Patriots-Jets season opener in 2007, after a Patriots staffer had his camera confiscated for illegally filming Jets coaches from the sideline, three law enforcement officers refereed a heated debate in a Giants Stadium office over control of the camera and tape. FBI agent Bob Bukowski and longtime New Jersey state troopers and Meadowlands security officials Jim Crann and Pat Aramini, who had worked undercover to infiltrate the Genovese crime family, listened as Patriots security chief Mark Briggs and two Jets officials made what Crann called "cross allegations" of wrongdoing. Crann said Briggs kept accusing the Meadowlands officers of stealing New England's camera. Said Bukowski of the Patriots and the Spygate tape: "They knew what was on it, and they wanted it back. They were trying any reason, but there was no way." 

Urban Meyer/Aaron Hernandez

  • While coaching the University of Florida, Urban Meyer warned at least one NFL team that it should not draft his talented but troubled tight end, Aaron Hernandez. Meyer told that team, "Look, this guy's a hell of a football player, but he f---ing lies to beat the system and teaches all our other guys to beat the system. With the marijuana stuff, we've never caught this guy, but we know he's doing it. ... Don't f---ing touch that guy." An official with that NFL team said he was taken aback when Meyer's friend, Belichick, drafted Hernandez in the fourth round. "I never understood that," the official said. 

Bill Parcells

  • Parcells and Belichick had repaired much of the damage to their relationship caused by Belichick's stormy departure from the Jets after 1999, but Parcells is quoted in the book questioning why his former defensive coordinator's game plan in the Giants' Super Bowl XXV upset of Buffalo ended up in Canton. "I don't know whose idea that was to put it in the Hall of Fame," Parcells said. "If anything should be in the Hall of Fame, it should be [offensive coordinator] Ron Erhardt's game plan. We had the ball for 40 minutes and some seconds. That takes work, consistent play. We were only on defense for 19 minutes. To me, we had a good game plan against them. It was well thought out, a couple of things we did, the two-man lines in that game. But I'm not diminishing anything. I'm just telling you. I don't know how that happened. I'm not knocking anyone here." 

Nick Saban

  • Though the longtime friends formed a devastating tandem in 1994, when their Browns defense allowed a league-low 204 points, Belichick and Saban had their moments in Cleveland. Saban had little use for Belichick's restrictions on his assistants' access to reporters, and for Belichick's conservative philosophy on defense. "Nick was so pissed with Bill," recalled Pro Bowl defensive end Rob Burnett. "He wanted to do so many things and he was hamstrung by Bill. I used to meet with Nick all the time, and Bill would not bend as far as changing defenses. He stayed as vanilla as ice cream. ... To Nick I was like 'Oh, man, remember in training camp when they couldn't block us on this blitz?' He goes, 'I know, I know. But sometimes I put it in the game plan and Bill won't run it on Sundays.' ... At the end, it wasn't the best relationship."

Giants

  • George Young, longtime Giants general manager, made it clear the team's defensive coordinator, Belichick, would never succeed Parcells. "I was there when [Young] said it," recalled personnel man Chris Mara. "He said, 'He'll never become the Giants' head coach.' ... George, like others, said, 'This is an ex-lacrosse player. He's a disheveled-looking mess most of the time.' George was big on that other stuff as far as appearance, which is why he was so high on Ray Perkins, who took command of everyone around him and was a born leader. I just don't think he saw that in Bill Belichick."

Belichick's father

  • Steve Belichick was ahead of his time on race relations. While serving in the Navy during World War II, Belichick's father was the only white man who didn't walk out of the officers' club on Okinawa when one of the Navy's first black officers, Samuel Barnes, walked in. Belichick instead befriended Barnes, who often faced racism during his service. Barnes' daughter Olga likened their friendship to the cross-racial bond between former Chicago Bears running backs Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo depicted in the 1971 film "Brian's Song."

 

Whoa nelly!  So chew on all that.

 

Source: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24727652/new-book-says-tom-brady-long-worried-being-pushed-bill-belichick

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Jetsfan80

Jetsfan80

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F*ck em both.  Brady cried like a b*tch when he was taken in the 6th round, insulting insurance salesmen the world over in the process.  Yet now he's going to throw Belichick under the bus even though he was the guy who gave him a chance and helped make him great. 

Meanwhile, Belichick is of course a worldclass douchebag.  He'd cut a family member from the team or coaching staff in a heartbeat if it helped him. 

On the whole, I hate Brady more than Belichick, and this is just one more whiny, crybaby instance in a long line of those by the biggest b*tch in the NFL. 

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jetstream23

jetstream23

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I just read this article for a second time.  It's absolutely mesmerizing.  The level of distrust between Brady and Belichick is orders of magnitude more than I would have ever guessed.  Belichick has "serious doubts" about Brady's declaration that he wasn't involved with deflating footballs.  And, Brady believed that at least some of the suspicions regarding the Patriots "black ops" were likely true.  This could be anything from communications/headset interference at Gillette Stadium for opponents to recording the walkthrough of the Rams, Steelers and other opponents like the Jets during Spygate.

None of them trust each other BECAUSE they know they're each not trustworthy.  Holy smokes!  What does that tell you?!?!?

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Patriot Killa

Patriot Killa

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Brady is going to be done way sooner then his media talk suggests. There will be no 45,46. He’ll be done in the next year or two. I’ll give him until 43. His wife wants him to retire, he wants to be with his family, he’s done just about as much as he can do, his relationship with Belichick has soured badly...it’s just approaching that time. 

2 years max guys. 2.

Then when he retires, the rest of this mess will spill out to the public lol.

guranteed bc that’s how it works.

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The Walrus

The Walrus

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What is so obvious in all this is how people seem to put Tom Brady bigger than the team. Montana was traded, Manning went to Denver, teams move on to the future and no one is bigger than the team we're told.

Kraft wants to keep Brady to the end, fine, but you have to pay the piper and he'll lose Belichick and Brady at the same time and the Pats will then get their decades of football purgatory. Not that I'm crying of course.

The Jets luck has really been in this past year. Pats trade Jimmy G. then the Giants pass on Darnold. We're looking alright my friends.

 

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CTM

CTM

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Both of these guys have huge egos and would love to prove they could win without the other.  Im sure it eats them up that people debate who is more responsible.

Had Brady been traded to a strong team like Manning did I believe he'd have won consistently and made a Super Bowl. Likely too late now though.

Belichick is harder to figure. He has an established track record of not winning without Brady but he is for sure a good coach.

If these 2 ever faced off I'd root for Brady, some combination of Brady beng drafted in 6th round under dog thing + Belichick actually screwed the Jets back in 2000 and added a substantial piece to the Jets as a laughing stock lore with his 1 day HC gig and scribbled on a napkin resignation. Hes by far less likeable imo

 

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rangerous

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4 hours ago, jetstream23 said:

I just read this article for a second time.  It's absolutely mesmerizing.  The level of distrust between Brady and Belichick is orders of magnitude more than I would have ever guessed.  Belichick has "serious doubts" about Brady's declaration that he wasn't involved with deflating footballs.  And, Brady believed that at least some of the suspicions regarding the Patriots "black ops" were likely true.  This could be anything from communications/headset interference at Gillette Stadium for opponents to recording the walkthrough of the Rams, Steelers and other opponents like the Jets during Spygate.

None of them trust each other BECAUSE they know they're each not trustworthy.  Holy smokes!  What does that tell you?!?!?

but it's the same for all of the guys mentioned except the bellichicken's father.  they're all a bunch of self serving people who really don't care about anyone but themselves.  and the fact that the bellichicken and brady still exist together is because of kraft who may be the biggest egomaniac of the bunch.  at least kraft made his business empire the hard way and no doubt had some hard fought battles along the way.

imo it was a mistake to keep brady and launch garapollo even before he stated out so well in san francisco.  the fans would've forgotten brady just like montana or manning or whatever big name qb was ever traded.  heck anyone remember namath?

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docdhc

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One New England assistant said the general feeling among staff members around that time wasn't that Belichick's system could make Super Bowl quarterbacks out of all 32 NFL starters. "But if you gave us any of the top 15, we could do it," the assistant said. "I don't think the coaches view Tom as special as everyone else in football does. Mr. Kraft thinks Tom is the greatest gift ever, but thecoaches don't."

 

This to me is the most interesting. It’s the age old question of who gets the credit. I think Brady is underrated here. Belichick probably wanted to prove he could win without Brady at some point and now he may never get the chance. He did make Matt Cassel look pretty good though so I don’t know what to believe. I guess Peyton or Rodgers would have had the same success but I’m not sure a top 15 qb would. 

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TuscanyTile2

TuscanyTile2

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52 minutes ago, docdhc said:

One New England assistant said the general feeling among staff members around that time wasn't that Belichick's system could make Super Bowl quarterbacks out of all 32 NFL starters. "But if you gave us any of the top 15, we could do it," the assistant said. "I don't think the coaches view Tom as special as everyone else in football does. Mr. Kraft thinks Tom is the greatest gift ever, but thecoaches don't."

 

This to me is the most interesting. It’s the age old question of who gets the credit. I think Brady is underrated here. Belichick probably wanted to prove he could win without Brady at some point and now he may never get the chance. He did make Matt Cassel look pretty good though so I don’t know what to believe. I guess Peyton or Rodgers would have had the same success but I’m not sure a top 15 qb would. 

This is comical.  BB is probably the GOAT HC but he's fooling himself if he thinks he could win a SB with the #15 QB in the NFL.  Tom Brady is the GOAT (or at least tied w/ Joe Cool) and that played a gigantic role in the Pats winning 5 SBs (and getting to 8!)  It definitely would've been interesting to see the Pats with Jimmy G though.  I'm still not sure BB would've won a SB with him but I'm confident they would've been a successful tandem.

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Matt39

Matt39

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58 minutes ago, docdhc said:

One New England assistant said the general feeling among staff members around that time wasn't that Belichick's system could make Super Bowl quarterbacks out of all 32 NFL starters. "But if you gave us any of the top 15, we could do it," the assistant said. "I don't think the coaches view Tom as special as everyone else in football does. Mr. Kraft thinks Tom is the greatest gift ever, but thecoaches don't."

 

This to me is the most interesting. It’s the age old question of who gets the credit. I think Brady is underrated here. Belichick probably wanted to prove he could win without Brady at some point and now he may never get the chance. He did make Matt Cassel look pretty good though so I don’t know what to believe. I guess Peyton or Rodgers would have had the same success but I’m not sure a top 15 qb would. 

I mean if you gave the Pats Brees, Ben etc they’re obviously winning still.

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CTM

CTM

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6 hours ago, Obrien2Toon said:

Any time Brady has been out, they don’t skip a beat

10-6 with Cassel, and that was after the shock of Brady getting hurt, and not having a full preseason as starter

Cassel could’ve went 12-4

imagine if bellicheck had someone like Rodgers, he would’ve won 8 out of 10 years

Hard to believe this myth is still perpetuated.  

NE went from 16-0 division winners and #1 seed against a top 10 difficult schedule in 2007

To 

11-5 and completely missing the playoffs despite playing a bottom 5 easy schedule in 2008

Looking at stats that control for competition illustrates this point

The 2007 Pat's had the highest offensive dvoa EVER and second highest  overall dvoa EVER

The 2008 Pats had middling dvoa just compared to the 2008 season and not even a top 100 season historically 

Even looking at raw win totals, a +/- 5 change in YOY win total is the difference between the jets making the playoffs last year or being in position to draft darnold 

I dont understand how anyone can label such a cratering of performance as "they didn't skip a beat". They had a massive drop off in performance 

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JetsRay

JetsRay

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5 hours ago, Patriot Killa said:

Brady is going to be done way sooner then his media talk suggests. There will be no 45,46. He’ll be done in the next year or two. I’ll give him until 43. His wife wants him to retire, he wants to be with his family, he’s done just about as much as he can do, his relationship with Belichick has soured badly...it’s just approaching that time. 

2 years max guys. 2.

Then when he retires, the rest of this mess will spill out to the public lol.

guranteed bc that’s how it works.

The release of this book is surely going to exponentially advance that timeline...

It will be fascinating watching how things play out even this year as the book comes out.  Watching the media pounce will be popcorn worthy.

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jgb

jgb

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55 minutes ago, CTM said:

Hard to believe this myth is still perpetuated.  

NE went from 16-0 division winners and #1 seed against a top 10 difficult schedule in 2007

To 

10-6 and completely missing the playoffs despite playing a bottom 5 easy schedule in 2008

Looking at stats that control for competition illustrates this point

The 2007 Pat's had the highest offensive dvoa EVER and second highest  overall dvoa EVER

The 2008 Pats had middling dvoa just compared to the 2008 season and not even a top 100 season historically 

Even looking at raw win totals, a +/- 6 change in YOU win total is the difference between the jets making the playoffs last year or being in position to draft darnold 

I dont understand how anyone can label such a cratering of performance as "they didn't skip a beat". They had a massive drop off in performance 

How amazing would it be if that was also our floor.

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CTM

CTM

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3 minutes ago, jgb said:

How amazing would it be if that was also our floor.

Missing the playoffs despite having a stacked roster that went 16-0 the year prior? I guess.

This years Pat's team wouldn't likely go 10-6 with mediocre QB play 

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Kleckineau

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33 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

Both of them appear terrified to be without the other.  Both have had chances to prove how great they are by going elsewhere and showing it was them that made the other guy look good.  Both are chicken to do so.

Brady isnt going anywhere. No other team would provide him the "advantageous and creative salary structure" (undertable $) Kraft offers.

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jgb

jgb

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1 hour ago, CTM said:

Missing the playoffs despite having a stacked roster that went 16-0 the year prior? I guess.

This years Pat's team wouldn't likely go 10-6 with mediocre QB play 

Don't see how anyone wouldn't sign up for 10-6 barely missing playoffs as the floor for the Jets for next 18 years.

Regarding whether they could do it again this yeah, I dunno but I bet they'd win more than the 5 games Bowles has averaged over the last two years. But it's unknowable speculation.

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CTM

CTM

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4 minutes ago, jgb said:

Don't see how anyone wouldn't sign up for 10-6 barely missing playoffs as the floor for the Jets for next 18 years.

Regarding whether they could do it again this yeah, I dunno but I bet they'd win more than the 5 games Bowles has averaged over the last two years. But it's unknowable speculation.

If your point is that Belichick is a better coach than Bowles I obv agree. If your point is that Belichick makes 8 SB's with a JAG like Cassel at QB I strongly disagree. My original post was in response to the often cited 2008 season as evidence that Belichicks historic success isnt strongly tied to, if not nearly reliant on Brady.

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MDL_JET

MDL_JET

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3 hours ago, docdhc said:

One New England assistant said the general feeling among staff members around that time wasn't that Belichick's system could make Super Bowl quarterbacks out of all 32 NFL starters. "But if you gave us any of the top 15, we could do it," the assistant said. "I don't think the coaches view Tom as special as everyone else in football does. Mr. Kraft thinks Tom is the greatest gift ever, but thecoaches don't."

 

This to me is the most interesting. It’s the age old question of who gets the credit. I think Brady is underrated here. Belichick probably wanted to prove he could win without Brady at some point and now he may never get the chance. He did make Matt Cassel look pretty good though so I don’t know what to believe. I guess Peyton or Rodgers would have had the same success but I’m not sure a top 15 qb would. 

They've been together for so long that they both execute what the other one wants so perfectly. That's why they have such success. Of course the top tier QBs would do well but outside that? Meh, it'd be like any other team. Struggles would happen. 

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