Dynasty Destruction: Patriots' Brady Refused 'More' Belichick
Had the relationship between New England Patriots legends Bill Belichick and Tom Brady deteriorated to a level of toxicity capable of destroying a dynasty?
If Brady is to be taken at his word, it appears that his desire to part with his longtime coach was the ultimate coup de grâce for the Patriots reign of dominance in the NFL.
“Me and coach Belichick, we did what we loved and competed for 20 years together.” Brady said while being interviewed for “The Dynasty” (via The Athletic.) “But I wasn’t going to sign another contract (in New England) even if I wanted to play until (I was) 50. Based on how things had gone, I wasn’t going to sign up for more of it.”
Cred: USA Today Images
With the debut of the AppleTV+ 10-episode documentary set to premier Friday, The Athletic has offered a review of the hard-hitting, candid look at the 20-plus year run of the Patriots at the top of the pro football landscape.
Among the documentary’s most tantalizing topics is the evolution of the dynamic between arguably the game’s greatest quarterback and head coach. While the tension between both parties has been of little secret since Brady’s departure in March 2020, the degree of animosity may come as a surprise to even the most die-hard Patriots fan.
“Players, including several still on the roster, disclose just how difficult it was playing for Belichick,” wrote The Athletic’s Chad Graff. “Rob Gronkowski described pulling up to 1 Patriot Place and not wanting to get out of his car to go into work. Wes Welker compared Brady to an abused dog for continually going back to work for Belichick.”
The Athletic’s review also details the compelling role of team owner Robert Kraft in the demise of the Brady-Belichick partnership — portraying the 82-year-old team president as an intermediary between his franchise’s two greatest commodities.
“Tom [Brady] and I had a number of discussions about how Bill treated him,” Kraft relayed to the documentary. “Tommy is very sensitive. He was always looking for Bill’s approval, almost in a father-son kind of way. And that’s not Bill’s style ever to give that.”
Ironically, Kraft, himself, experienced his own irreconcilable differences with Belichick, resulting in a “mutual and amicable” parting of ways in January — a subject covered neither in this miniseries, nor in author Jeff Bendict’s best-selling book of the same name, on which the miniseries is based.
In the final analysis, it is important to remember that the context in which both the above and subsequent quotes from “The Dynasty” are taken should include a full and comprehensive viewing of the documentary in its entirety.
Perhaps conveniently overshadowed from the doc’s initial reviews is the fact that the prolific Brady-Belichick tandem remains among the most successful of its kind in professional sports. Together, they participated in 285 regular-season games, 41 postseason contests and a record-setting nine Super Bowl appearances. Their 219 combined victories is the most by any head coach/quarterback duo in the history of the NFL.
However, the candor with which so many — especially Brady — have spoken sheds an additional thicket of light, as well as a new perspective on the end to one of the NFL’s greatest, yet most controversial eras in its storied history.
