Even when they were both still with the New England Patriots, the question of whether it was quarterback Tom Brady or head coach Bill Belichick who was most responsible for the team’s success was already the subject of much debate. Brady’s decision to leave New England for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year only reignited those discussions.
Now, with the Buccaneers playing the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game in Brady’s first season in Tampa Bay, former NFL head coach and ESPN analyst Rex Ryan added more fuel to the fire of that topic:
"Nobody wanted to go to New England to be coached by Bill Belichick, they wanted to play with Tom Brady."
Rex Ryan said players wanted to go to the Patriots because Brady was the reason they were going to win. pic.twitter.com/Xmlf6m3Io6
— ESPN (@espn) January 24, 2021
Ryan, the former head coach of the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, said that while Belichick was part of the reason why players wanted to go to New England, it was Brady who was the main reason why they wanted to play for the Patriots. According to Ryan, the six-time Super Bowl champion and three-time MVP was also the reason why no quarterback wanted to go to the Patriots during his time with the team.
While there is no doubt that the 43-year-old signal-caller was one of the main reasons why players took their talents to New England, being coached by Belichick, one of the greatest coaches the NFL has ever seen, likely also factored in their decisions to join the Patriots.
Even with Brady in the NFC Championship Game and the Patriots struggling in their first year without their longtime quarterback, there is no doubt both men were essential to the team’s unprecedented run of success.
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