We get it, Tom, you didn't like how things ended in New England.
News bulletin: Neither did anyone else, outside of Bill Belichick.
You would think, given his success and Super Bowl title last season in Tampa while the Patriots scuffled along to 7-9 and sat out the playoffs entirely, that Team Tom Brady would let the scoreboard do all the talking for them. I mean, it's right there for everyone to see.
Brady: 11-5, Super Bowl title, 40 touchdown passes.
Patriots: 7-9, no playoffs, 12 touchdown passes (2 by Jakobi Meyers).
Round 1 went, decidedly, to Brady. It was more than a 10-8 round. At best, Belichick can even the score in the next year or two, if Brady doesn't win another Super Bowl. But Belichick is never going to win this. At best, he can tie Brady before both hang it up.
With that scoreboard in the background that everyone can see and knows, Brady easily could have come into next week's titanic matchup on Sunday Night Football and not said anything except pleasantries.
My time was special in New England.
I never would have become the player I did without Coach Belichick and my teammates.
I'm disappointed I didn't finish my career there but that's been the case for just about every great quarterback in the last 20 years.
I wish the Patriots, Coach Belichick, the Krafts and the fans of the Patriots all the best and they will always have a special place in my heart and that of my family.
And I'm sure we'll get some of that when Brady does finally speak for himself on the topic next week. Brady's a good person. He does the right things a lot of the time.
But for Brady to allow his camp to speak for him and to do what they've just begun to do this week ... unless there's some sort of huge revelation in Seth Wickersham's upcoming book that they know about and were angered by, it's extremely petty and small for them to take this tact.
Trust me, I know. I lived through all of this before with the Packers' divorce from Brett Favre — if you think Tom Sr. is bad, you should try brothers Scott and Jeff Favre and assorted cousins — and his return to Lambeau Field in the wretched purple of the Minnesota Vikings. If you think Brady coming to Gillette as a Buc is bad, imagine it was with the Jets. Gross.
All the fallout from the Favre-Packers divorce — and it went on for years as Favre went to the Jets and then Vikings — was awful in the moment and it only looked worse in the years to follow.
Almost all involved, now over a decade removed, have said things in recent years, publicly and privately, along the lines of, "I wish I would have handled things differently, not said some things."
The Bradys are getting to that point right now. And here's the thing: they're saying things no one would dispute. They just look very small thumping their chests as they head north for the game. If they were players in today's NFL, they would have been flagged for taunting already.
First, Tom Sr. goes on with Tom Curran and said this:
“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,” Brady Sr. said. “And frankly, it may well have been perfect for Belichick to move on from him.
“On the other hand, I think the Tampa Bay [Buccaneers] are pretty happy that the decision was made in Foxborough that they didn’t want to afford him or didn’t want to keep him when his last contract came up.”
Curran asked if Senior found a measure of vindication from last season.
"Damn right. Belichick wanted him out the door and last year he threw 56 touchdowns. I think that’s a pretty good year."
Does the son feel the same way?
"Damn rights. ... Damn rights."
Tom Sr. tells no lies.
It was clear after the Atlanta Super Bowl, Brady had earned whatever contract extension he desired. Belichick wouldn't give it to him, wanted to go year to year, and that was the beginning of the end. The Patriots should have paid it, and if it didn't work out and the team was crushed by the cap because of it, so be it. That is the price you have to pay for a talent like Brady.
Belichick has always desired to win a Super Bowl without Brady. That's no secret around the team.
Should Team Brady feel vindication after last season? Absolutely. And we all know they were vindicated ... so why say it? Now Team Brady looks as petty as Belichick.
Then where was Alex Guerrero, talking to Karen Guregian, saying that Belichick kept treating Brady like any other player, when he clearly wasn't.
“The interesting thing I think there — and this is just me, an outsider looking in — it was like Bill never really … I think his emotions or feelings never evolved with age,” Guerrero said. “I think in time, with Tom, as Tom got into his late 30s or early 40s, I think Bill was still trying to treat him like that 20-year-old kid that he drafted. And all the players, I think, realized Tom was different.
“He’s older, so he should be treated differently. And all the players, none of them would have cared that he was treated differently. I think that was such a Bill thing. He never evolved. So you can’t treat someone who’s in his 40s like they’re 20. It doesn’t work.”
Again, file this under, not shocking. Belichick continued to treat all his players the same way?! Uh, that's kind of his thing. It's part of why he's been more successful than any coach ever.
Do we agree with Guerrero that Belichick should have eased up on Brady and given him what he needed — like Guerrero on the sidelines, on the plane and close to the locker room? Yes, absolutely. And we've said as much over the years. Would a majority of Patriots fans agree that Belichick should have eased up on Brady a little bit, and made things easier for the QB as he got older? Absolutely.
Here, again, Team Brady is pointing out factors in the divorce that we all knew, most agree with Team Brady on, that they've been vindicated about in Tampa ... and yet they're still piling on, like a late TB12 deep touchdown throw during the 2007 season.
We get it. You guys won, at least so far.
Here's another thing I learned from the Packers and Favre: when you are dealing with two rich, out-of-touch entities who long ago forgot what it's like to be a real person, two supersized egos just start firing missiles at each other, trying to exact revenge and taking care of grudges that really only they care about.
And you know who loses in all of this? The fans. They're like a 10-year-old caught in the middle of a vicious divorce where the parents forget about the kid and how a quick, easy and quiet separation would be best for him or her. These are people who invested a ton of time, money, tears, laughter and whatever else, giving their heart to Brady and the Patriots, and now you're choosing them to take sides.
Why?
Because you need to feel vindicated? Because you are holding onto grudges as you win Super Bowl trophies?
Oh, for crying out loud, grow up.
Two people, Brady and Belichick, whose legacies are secure as the greatest ever at their positions, are now in a pissing match because of their huge egos.
Just shut up and play the game. No one cares outside of your own little "yes" circles. You're only making yourself look small, especially Brady.