Naturally, plenty of speculation followed Tom Brady's decision to leave the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick to sign a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency.
Brady had spent 20 years in New England, winning six Super Bowls and turning the Pats into the most successful franchise of this century. However, tensions between Brady and head coach Bill Belichick grew more rampant in the past few seasons. The Buccaneers benefited.
After the move to the Buccaneers, One of Brady's friends described him as “Belichick'd out after 20 years,” per ESPN's Ian O'Connor:
Measured against Belichick, Arians is a stand-up comic with a funny-looking cap and a strange way of managing defeat. “Win or lose, we booze,” is Arians' oft-stated philosophy. Though people close to Brady believe that he was looking for a little more humanity in his coaching (“Tom was Belichick'd out after 20 years,” said one friend), and that Arians' let's-grab-a-couple-beers-and-sneak-in-nine-holes approach will be a welcome change, some league officials who know all parties wonder how Brady will adjust to a head coach who doesn't quite match Belichick's maniacal hours or attention to detail.
While Brady was the face of the franchise in New England, their culture was defined by the “Do Your Job” mantra that defined Belichick's “next man up” mentality. Belichick has always been more concerned with maximizing talent while showing no hesitancy in moving on from a player if he shows any signs of regression.
Perhaps Brady wanted a greater say in play-calling and roster decisions with the Buccaneers; those decisions were geared toward defensive measures when he was with the Patriots.
In that sense, the Buccaneers are an excellent fit. Head coach Bruce Arians has had previous success working with veteran signal-callers like Ben Roethlisberger, and it seems likely Brady will have a good deal of freedom running his offensive schemes next season.
Follow Us
Subscribe