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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has pushed back against allegations put forth in ESPN The Magazine’s controversial story which said he was celebrating after backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was traded to the San Francisco 49ers, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports.
The piece had a line which said “some players and staffers noticed that Brady seemed especially excited, hollering and cajoling” shortly after the Garoppolo deal went down.
“I think that's just such a poor characterization of anything. In 18 years, I've never celebrated when someone has been traded, been cut,” Brady said Tuesday in his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI's Kirk and Callahan Show. “I would say that's disappointing to hear that someone would express that, or a writer would express that, because it's so far from what my beliefs are about my teammates.”
Brady went on to say he that has never felt happy about any of his past backups getting traded. He claims he had great relationships with them when they were teammates, and that he’s kept in touch with all of them.
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The whole situation surrounding Garoppolo’s trade is supposedly a major factor in the alleged conflict that has gone on between Brady, head coach Bill Belichick, and owner Robert Kraft this season. Belichick was reportedly very unhappy about trading away Garoppolo, who has been groomed as Brady’s successor.
While the report did not say it explicitly, rumors have circulated that Brady was purportedly a strong force behind the team trading Garoppolo away and went to ownership to force Belichick to deal his backup away.
Brady joins Belichick and Kraft in publicly denying the key elements of the ESPN story over the last few days.
