Tom Brady's Departure Will Be Bulletin Board Material For Bill Belichick, Patriots
Bill Belichick will gladly share any negative comments made about his football team to his players and coaches. It motivates them to play better, which is part of his algorithm for success over the past two decades. But he may now have his biggest piece of bulletin board material ever.
With Tom Brady leaving the Patriots this offseason, it leaves many in doubt of what New England can do moving forward. Losing the greatest quarterback of all-time and bouncing back from that loss is no easy task, which is why there is plenty of talk that the six-time Super Bowl champions may fall flat on their face this upcoming season.
But that kind of talk will just motivate the Patriots.
“(Belichick) might bring up a couple articles … everybody saying it’s over, Brady this, Brady that,” former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison told the Boston Herald. “Of course he’ll say something about that. But at the end of the day, whether he makes the point or not, he knows the team will be motivated to prove they can win without Tom.”
With so many talented players on the roster, saying the Patriots will not be as good without Brady is a slap in the face to his former teammates that work hard day in and day out to perform at a high level, sometimes at a higher level than Brady. So to say those guys can't elevate the team to a high enough level to help them win football games, make the playoffs and win the division is a knock on them, which they will embrace.
“It’s not just talk, not with the Patriots. It’s a chip you carry in the weight room, you carry in the film room, in the dining room, you carry at home watching extra film, it’s a chip that motivates you,” Harrison said. “It’s motivating for people to say you can’t win without Brady. I know I would be pissed. … So these guys are going to be motivated, pumped up and ready to go.”
With a very strong defense in-tact, and an offense that is fully healthy and ready to perform better than they did in 2019, whoever is under center for the Patriots in Week 1 of the regular season come this September will be put in a position to succeed. With an offensive line that looks to return to their 2018 form, a stacked backfield, some new tight ends and a group of pass-catchers that are healthy, whoever the quarterback may be - Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer - will have plenty of talent around them.
If either (or both) of those QBs fail to perform at (at least) a serviceable level next season, it will be no ones fault but their own. But until that happens, they, along with the rest of the team, will be motivated as ever to prove to everyone that Tom Brady was not the sole reason for the New England Patriots' success over the past two decades. They still have the greatest head coach of all time and a lot of elite talent throughout the roster.
