Tom Brady and Bill Belichick were tied at the hip for two decades as the New England Patriots established the NFL’s all-time greatest dynasty. Then, this offseason, Brady stunned everyone when he announced he would not be returning. One former star Patriots defender thinks he knows exactly why Brady left Belichick and the Pats behind.
Brady ‘got tired’ of the Patriot Way?
Asante Samuel, who played with Brady, Belichick and the Patriots from 2003-2007, shared with TMZ Sports that he thinks Brady just “got tired” of the Patriot Way.
“He probably just got fed up with it at the end of the day,” Samuel said. “He probably just got tired of it. He probably got tired of some inner-circle things that he wanted.”
It’s unclear about exactly what Samuel means by “some inner-circle things that he wanted.” But the gist is clear: He thinks Brady was just ready to get away from the Hoodie and his no-nonsense, no-fun approach.
There’s more to this, though.
Was Tom Brady upset about losing Patriots teammates?
Samuel also hinted that Belichick’s penchant for moving on from players Brady wanted had something to do with the divorce.
“Maybe, he wanted receivers and tight ends to stay there with him and maybe Bill tried to trade them,” Samuel said. “Who knows what happened?”
There’s little doubt that this is a salient point. We know that Rob Gronkowski was almost traded to the Detroit Lions a few years ago. He ultimately squashed that deal by threatening to retire rather than play for Detroit.
Then there’s the recent Antonio Brown saga. He and Brady were together for a brief time until the Patriots released him amid an NFL investigation into his off-field troubles. Brady was said to be upset about the decision.
Now he’s got a ton of talent around him in Tampa Bay. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Gronk may be the best trio he’s ever had at his disposal. And Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is quite a bit more laid back in his approach.