Bedard: Recapping and reacting to Tom Brady's interview with Howard Stern

Tom Brady had his big interview with Howard Stern on Sirius XM, and it mostly delivered with over two hours of content. He sounded more forthcoming in his answers than anything he's said to the assembled beat corp or in his paid spots on WEEI (why couldn't Brady have done this for them?) for years, maybe ever.

But I wouldn't say this was Brady being completely truthful about how things went down. Part of it is colored by his new reality and how things happened.

Here are the most compelling portions of the interview, along with how truthful we think he was being.



On whether Brady ever demanded to Bill Belichik that he get rid of a player...

"I would say, 'I don’t have any trust that this guy can help us win the game.' I’ve definitely expressed my opinion to say, ‘If you put him out there, I’m not going to throw him the ball.’ The whole team is trusting me to do what’s right by the team, so you can’t put someone out there who I don’t believe in. Because if I don’t believe in him, it’s worthless for the team. I think fortunately for me, Coach Belichick always saw it the same way as me, which is why I think we had such a great connection. He saw football very much the same way that I saw it.”

Bedard: Brady admits in the Circle of Trust here, not that it was breaking news. We all knew Brady was demanding, expected perfection of himself and from his teammates. Not sure if I buy the stuff about Belichick being on the same page since he kept activating players and putting them on the field. If Belichick had lost confidence in players, they wouldn't have been on the field.



On if he ever just got sick of Belichick...

“I think it’s a pretty shitty argument that people would say that. I can’t do his job and he can’t do mine. So, the fact that you could say, ‘Would I be successful without him? The same level of success?' I don’t believe I would have been. But I feel the same and vice versa as well. To have him, allowed me to be the best I can be, I’m grateful for that, and I very much believe he feels the same about me because we’ve expressed that to each other.

Bedard: There are people, at least in his camp if not Brady himself, who are well aware of things Belichick are doing and how they reflect on Belichick's legacy (A Football Life, etc.). I've never gotten the impression that Brady really cared about this whole argument, and Belichick never shares his thoughts about his legacy, but there are people in the organization that feel Belichick wanted to win without Brady. Whether that's actually true, we'll never know.

Any resentment for Belichick not making him a Patriot for life.

“No, absolutely not. Because this is a part for me in my life to experience something very different. And there’s ways for me to grow and evolve in different ways that I haven’t had the opportunity to do that aren’t right or wrong, they’re just right for me.”

Bedard: This is where I think Brady isn't being exactly truthful with his feeling over the last three years, including the past year. This is an answer that is reflective of his new reality. He's not longer on the Patriots, and he's a Buc, so what's he really going to say? That he's bitter at what happened and about how he had to go to Tampa Bay? Of course. I don't think Brady cared much about being a Patriot for the rest of his life. The bottom line is, if Belichick gave him a multi-year extension in recent years, he'd still be on the team. But Belichick just didn't believe in that for an older player.



On not just retiring and the decision...

“I would say I never cared about legacy. I could give a shit about ... I never said in high school, ‘Man, I can’t wait for what my football legacy looks like.’ ... That’s just not me. That’s not my personality. So why would I choose a different place? It’s just time. I don’t know what to say other than that. I accomplished everything I could in two decades with an incredible organization and an incredible group of people. That will never change. No one can ever take that away from me. No one can take those Super Bowl championships or experiences away from us.”

Bedard: Again, the essential question is, 'Why was it just time?' If Belichick had made concessions to an older Brady, treated him a little more special, asked for his input and gave him every contract extension he wanted, then I think Brady would still be here. He wouldn't need to be searching for something else. It was time because of the circumstances. If Brady (Tom vs. Time) was happy with his work conditions and things like that, I don't think Brady would just relocate for no reason.

On Belichick's loyalty...

“I think he has a lot of loyalty. He and I have had a lot of conversations that nobody has ever been privy to, and nor should they be. So many wrong assumptions were made about our relationship and how he felt about me. I know genuinely how feels about me. Now, I’m not going to respond to every rumor or assumption that's made, other than what his responsibility is to get the best player for the team not only for the short term but the long term as well. … I got into unchartered territory as an athlete because I started to break the mold of what so many other athletes had experienced. I was old, I was an older athlete, and he started to plan for the future, which is what his responsibility is, and I don’t fault him for that. That’s what he should be doing. That's what every coach should be doing."

Bedard: If you don't think Brady, the competitor, was irked by the drafting of Jimmy Garoppolo and not trading him that offseason, and not just giving Brady a contract until age 45, then I don't know what to say. This was very real. This Brady pulling his punches on Belichick, not wanting to come off poorly. Brady was irked by a lot of this stuff behind the scenes.

On when the final decision was made...

“I don’t think there was a final, final decision until it happened, but I would say I probably knew before the start of last season that it was my last year. And I tried ... I knew our time was coming to an end.”

Bedard: No question that Brady, after the contract negotiations last summer had enough and basically out the door — unless things really changed with Belichick and how he viewed/treated Brady. But Brady was holding out some hope that, when push came to shove, that things might change and Brady would return. Brady realized the chances weren't good, but he did soften and he did hope that might happen.

On his relationship with his wife and the decision about sitting out the OTAs...

“A couple of years ago, we had ... she didn’t feel like I was doing my part for the family. She felt like I would play football all season, and she would take care of the house. Then, all of a sudden when the season ended, I’d be like, ‘Great, let me get into all my other business activities, let me get into my football training,’ and she’s sitting there going ,‘When are you going to do for things for the house? When are you going to take the kids to school?’ That was a big part of our marriage. I had to like check myself because she was like, ‘I have goals and dreams, too.’ ... Two years ago, as it related to football for me, I had to make a big transition in my life to say I can’t do all the things that I wanted to do for football like I used to. I have got to take care of my family because my family situation wasn’t great. She wasn’t satisfied with our marriage. I needed to make a change in that.

“She actually wrote me a letter. It was a very thought-out letter that she wrote it to me, and I still have it."

Bedard: This helps to explain the OTA situation but I don't think it tells the whole truth. There was obviously a big family pull, but that didn't explain Brady staying away from everything? Brady could have done both — OTAs isn't that big of a commitment during the offseason if he doesn't work out at the facility. He could have just shown up for practice. The contract factored into this as well. And his business interests.

On how he reached the decision to go to other teams...

"I heard from a lot of them. Before last offseason, I had a contract that got restructured and basically from my standpoint I knew at the end of the year I was going to become a free agent for the first time in my career. I had spoken about it with ownership, Mr. Kraft, and he was good with it. I had spoken to coach Belichchick about it and he was good with it. And that's what we decided to do. Over the course of the season and offseason there weren't substantial discussions for us to continue, there were some. At the end, it was a great way to end two decades. ... I still want to prove myself that I can play at the highest level."

Bedard: Not everyone was "good" with the situation with Brady and that he would become a free agent without the franchise tag. That's not the entire truth. ... Brady throwing in that there weren't substantial discussions is further evidence he expected there to be, and that he did not entirely close the door the previous offseason.

On how he wants the Patriots to do well...

"I have a lot of friends there, I want them to do well."

Would it be great to beat New England?

Of course it would. I want to beat anybody I play. ... They're going to be great. They have great players and great coaches, a great process.