Tom Brady Wants To Create His Own Path In Final Years
Apr 4, 2020, 3:36 PM
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
TAMPA, Fla. – Tom Brady is arguably the best quarterback in NFL history with his six Super Bowl wins, four Super Bowl, and three league MVP’S. Despite all of those achievements with the New England Patriots, Brady wanted more and it seems he is already coming out of the protective shell that was in place under Bill Belichick.
Brady was fairly quiet and bland when talking to the media with the Patriots but that might all be changing as he has an interview lined up with Howard Stern. Then news came out that Brady was going to rent former New York Yankee legend Derek Jeter’s mansion which has a one of a kind nickname in St. Jetersburg.
Check out the Tampa house Tom Brady is renting from Derek Jeter https://t.co/4oDOXu7gIw pic.twitter.com/aDPOU22ukJ
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) April 3, 2020
This seemingly points to Brady wanting to show off a bit and be flashy show off some personality that he was not able to show off in New England. These moves from Brady make him seem like the kid who goes off to college and tries to recreate himself into a completely different person.
Patriots Were Never Given A Chance
It is 100 percent clear that Brady wanted to forge his own path in the NFL and show everyone that at 42 he has the skillset to be an elite NFL quarterback and doing so without Belichick.
The $50 million contract he signed — which includes a no-trade clause and no ability to franchise tag him — was something the Patriots were willing to offer but Brady gave them no chance to even offer a counter.
KSL Sports Scott Mitchell was not surprised that this happened and a lot of has to do with the ego of a professional athlete.
“I think there has been a rift between Brady and the Patriots for a long time,” Mitchell said. “These things just build up over time like taking his trainer from being in the facility, and then they got rid of players and kept getting rid of players. It is really hard to have confidence or thinking you can win when you keep subtracting guys.”
Will @TomBrady win a 7th Super Bowl ring during his time with the @Buccaneers? #NFL #GoBucs https://t.co/tMjjXPimB4
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 20, 2020
Mitchell played for 12 years in the NFL and as a quarterback completely understands what it means to have or even not have the talent to help your franchise be successful. So, losing talent all the time is a drain on one’s confidence to be competitive in the NFL.
“That was a big issue when I was in Detroit at times,” Mitchell added. ” You go, ‘why aren’t you doing stuff to re-sign these guys, and why don’t you realize there is a chemistry that goes into the success of the team.’ Keeping that nucleus and chemistry in place is so important and with [former New England Patriots tight end] Gronkowski leaving and others over time. Brady is like, ‘I am not getting any younger and no of you — Bill Belichick or Robert Kraft — are going out on the field and getting knocked around every week. I am the one laying the physical health on the line.'”
New England Valued Talent Differently
The Patriots have a very particular way of acquiring talent and looking at the number of Super Bowls the club has won in 20 years shows that it works. The team would find older players who could still play at a good level and find a spot for them to succeed. That would allow for inexpensive contracts and free up cap space for just a few players like Brady, but even he was underpaid when looking at what he accomplished.
Tom Brady to the @Buccaneers
is a smart move, according to @19scottmitchellhttps://t.co/md0N5G1stt— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 18, 2020
The other end was true as well, the Patriots would let go of guys to stockpile draft picks or unload a player who they felt was not going to worth a new big contract. The one exception outside of Brady was extending Randy Moss to a three-year deal worth $27 million which was one of the highest at the time at this position. That didn’t even last as the Patriots traded him to the Minnesota Vikings before the end of the contract.
The Patriots are ruthless in how they sign players and let go of players but Belichick thinks he is smarter than everyone else but at some point, the team never stocked up the team with talent. Rather, it was to try to tape together an offense that was just enough to go with a Patriots defense that has been really good over the past few years.
“You feel as a player, I am sacrificing more than anyone here and I am the one that really lays it on the line. Just give me the tools to succeed and I will be happy, and if not I would rather move on and have a different challenge,” Mitchell said. “I just want to prove, even to myself, that is not just to you guys but I had a lot to do with the success for our team.”
Brady joins a Tampa team that has explosive talent on offense and that includes wide receiver, Mike Evans. He is comparable to what Brady had back in the late 2000s when he was tossing bombs to Moss. That duo put up eye-popping numbers, especially for Moss and his 23 touchdowns in 2007.
Perhaps that is all that Brady wanted, to go to a place where there was talent at the skill positions and one that was not duct-taping an offense together that might be good enough to make a playoff run. If we are all lucky, some more personality from Brady now that he is out of the shadow of the Patriots organization.
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