Following years of speculation, NFL icon Tom Brady has now explained the reason why he left Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
After teaming up for 20 years and winning Super Bowls together, Brady said that a “natural tension” had developed between himself and the coaching great.
The three-time NFL MVP expanded on his decision to leave New England in free agency following the 2019 season in his 199 newsletter, stating that a breakup was the best path forward for him at the time.
“For me, it was a creeping decision that lived passively in the back of mind for 2-3 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.
“The reality was, after twenty 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.”
Prior to Brady’s departure, rumours of friction between the greatest QB-coach pairing of all-time surfaced.
While contemplating his future during the off-season, Brady said that coaching factored into his decision-making while reassessing his priorities.
“When Tampa Bay came into the picture as a serious option for me, all I did over those few days in March was assess and reassess my priorities,” Brady wrote.
“I asked myself, as someone headed into their forties with school-age kids and twenty years’ worth of battle scars, what truly mattered to me now?
“What I ended up with was a list of about twenty things that I then ranked and graded on a weighted scale from 1 to 3 … Tampa scored a 3 with Bruce Arians.”
The move worked out well for Brady. In his first season with the Buccaneers, Brady led the team to a Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021.
He played two more seasons in Tampa – one under Arians and his final campaign under Todd Bowles – before retiring in February 2023.
Brady currently serves as Fox’s lead NFL analyst after signing a massive 10-year, US$375-million deal after retiring. Earlier this year, he completed his first season in booth for the network to mixed reviews, at best.
Last year, he also was approved as a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, further complicating his TV role.
Belichick left the Patriots in January 2024 after 24 seasons. After taking a season off and keeping busy with a bevy of sports media appearances, Belichick took over as head coach of the University of North Carolina’s football program.
He also has been making the rounds in the tabloids while dating 23-year-old former cheerleader Jordon Hudson.