After two decades, six Super Bowl titles, and 266 combined regular and post-season wins with the Patriots, Tom Brady is in an unfamiliar position of facing his longtime former coach Bill Belichick and doing so as visiting player at New England’s Gillette Stadium.
‘I know that home locker room,’ Brady, the quarterback for the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the reigning Super Bowl MVP, told reporters earlier this week. ‘I know that home tunnel. I know which way the wind blows. I know everything about that.
‘So, in some ways it’ll be unique. I’ve never had that experience. New England will be the first time for me being on the other sideline.’
The battle between the 2-1 Bucs and 1-2 Patriots isn’t insignificant. Tampa Bay, a Super Bowl contender, is coming off a loss to the Los Angeles Rams, while New England is looking to gain momentum behind rookie quarterback Mac Jones.
But naturally, the eyes of the football-loving world are fixated on Belichick and Brady, arguably the most successful coach-player relationship in NFL history, but one that came to an abrupt end in March of 2020, when the quarterback signed a two-year, $50 million deal with the Bucs.
Tom Brady walks to the visitors locker room before Sunday night’s game against the Patriots in New England
(Left) Josh Nelson, of Burrillville, Rhode Island, wears a jersey featuring quarterback Tom Brady’s number and in the colors of both his old team, the New England Patriots, right side, and of his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (Right) Patriots coach Bill Belichick has struggled without Brady, but is hoping to even his team’s record at 2-2 against his old QB on Sunday
Tom Brady enters Gillette Stadium as a member of the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Laura Marci of Rhode Island talks with a WCVB local news reporter before a game between the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Gillette Stadium. Belichick was reportedly reluctant to commit to Brady, 44, when he became a free agent in 2020. Brady responded by winning his seventh Super Bowl back in February
New England Patriots fan Stephanie Lamontagne, left, of Merrimack, New Hampshire smiles while chatting with Bill Gately, of Burrillville, Rhode Island, while tailgating near a sign greeting the return of quarterback Tom Brady prior to an NFL football game between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sisters Devon Poduje, 20, right, and Tiegan Poduje, 13, of West Hartford, Connecticut, sport Tom Brady jerseys, with Devon wearing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers version and Tiegan wearing a New England Patriots version
Melissa Zaske, left, of Vancouver, wears Tom Brady’s current Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey while walking with her husband Derek, who wears Tom Brady’s old New England Patriots jersey, prior to Sunday’s game in Foxborough, Massachusetts
Brady and Belichick’s relationship has intrigued football fans since the unassuming backup quarterback took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 and guided the Patriots to their first Super Bowl title.
Despite reports of turmoil in recent seasons, the two have been complimentary towards each other in public, with Belichick saying in 2018 that there’s no quarterback he’d rather have, and Brady telling Boston radio station WEEI in 2019 that he gets along well with his ‘great mentor.’ Brady has even called Belichick ‘the best coach in the history of the NFL’ in 2018.
That same year, however, reports surfaced of infighting between the two over disagreements between Brady’s trainer and business partner, Alex Guerrero, and the Patriots medical staff. Guerrero was ultimately banned from the sideline, but he and Brady jointly own a training center that sits near the Patriots stadium and practice facility in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
One ESPN report claimed Brady bristled as Belichick developed his presumed successor, Jimmy Garoppolo, only to have Kraft pressure the decorated coach into trading the young quarterback to San Francisco in October of 2017.
According to Seth Wickersham’s new book, It’s Better To Be Feared, Brady left the Patriots, in part, because he was upset that the team and Belichick refused to commit to him through the 2022 season. He previously stated he wanted to play in the NFL until he’s 45.
Also, Brady reportedly had grown tired of having his input rejected in New England, and thought Tampa Bay would be more agreeable to hearing his ideas.
Ultimately, Brady decided he stood a better chance with the Bucs and head coach Bruce Arians, who has a more player-friendly reputation than Belichick. The two sides eventually agreed on a two-year, $50 million deal.
‘Tom Brady had been curious if there was another way of winning, and while nobody was arguing that Bruce Arians was a better coach than Bill Belichick, or even close, the seamlessness of Brady’s proficiency and performance was making his former coach’s methodologies look antiquated, even silly,’ reads one passage, quoted by ESPN.
‘It was better to be feared — but was it necessary?’
Brady had sought a face-to-face meeting with Belichick before his departure, but his longtime coach opted for a phone call because he wasn’t available and simply spoke to the quarterback by phone, according to the book.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick celebrated Super Bowl victories together six times. Brady has added one more title since then
Tom Brady celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after beating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV
On Wednesday, Belichick was nothing but complimentary when talking to reporters about Brady.
‘Nothing Tom does surprises me,’ Belichick said. ‘He’s a great player, works hard, takes care of himself. He’s talked about playing until 50. If anybody can do it, he probably can.
‘Tom’s had an unbelievable career. There’s not enough superlatives and adjectives to compliment him on everything that he’s achieved and continues to achieve. It’s unbelievably impressive.’
And those public statements are nothing new.
Belichick previously called Brady ‘the best player the league had ever seen,’ but the book also claims that the quarterback had complained to friends about their deteriorating relationship.
Sunday’s reunion takes place with Brady needing only 68 yards to tie retired New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees’s all-time passing record of 80,358 yards. It would add to his long list of NFL records that already includes most TD passes (591), most wins as a starting quarterback (232), most Super Bowl titles (seven), and most conference championships (10).
Unfortunately for the Bucs, Brady was the only former Patriots legend suiting up for Tampa on Sunday. Brady’s longtime teammate, tight end Rob Gronkowski, suffered multiple broken ribs and punctured lungs during the Bucs’ Week 3 loss to the LA Rams.
Sportsbooks say Sunday’s showdown between Brady and Belichick is shaping up to be the most heavily bet on NFL game of the regular season.
‘We expect this game to be the biggest game of the season,’ said FanDuel spokesman Kevin Hennessy. ‘Tom Brady has always been popular with FanDuel customers. The Patriots were always a popular team for betting, and a lot of that has transferred to the Bucs.’
FanDuel, which is the official odds provider for The Associated Press, says 95 percent of bets are on Tampa Bay to cover the 7-point spread. Other sportsbooks report similarly lopsided betting action on Brady and the Bucs, and they expect a cascade of cash in the final hour before kickoff Sunday night.
‘It’s safe to say the book will be pulling for the Patriots on Sunday,’ said Wyatt Yearout, a spokesman for PointsBet. ‘It is on track to be the biggest regular-season NFL game ever at PointsBet, and it’s not even close. It is the most heavily bet game by far and we haven’t even entered the weekend yet, when a majority of the action normally comes.’
At BetMGM on Friday, 92 percent of the money was on Tampa Bay to cover; at Caesars Sportsbook, it was 97 percent.
Brady celebrates his seventh Super Bowl title with longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski, who was out Sunday due to injury
Brady played quarterback for the Patriots for his first 20 seasons before leaving last year to lead Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl victory. Sunday night’s game is his first against his old team and coach.
The revenge angle – on both sides – is an appealing one to gamblers.
‘Brady wants to show, `Is it you, coach Belichick, that made this team great for so many years, or was it me?” said Johnny Avello, head of sportsbook for DraftKings. ‘There’s a lot of motivation for Brady. But there’s also motivation on the other side. (New England rookie quarterback) Mac Jones wants to show he belongs, and say, `Move over, Brady, it’s a new era.”
‘Bettors are also looking to bet alternate spreads, thinking that Brady will blow his former team out and run the score up on Belichick,’ said Craig Mucklow, vice president of trading at Caesars Sportsbook.
Colin Lynch, a longtime Patriots fan from New Hampshire who now lives in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, says the Brady-Belichick angle is intriguing. He’s putting several hundred dollars on New England, and will follow closely in-game betting opportunities on an even larger spread.
‘I just hope the course of the game gives us a chance to see the chess match we’d all love to see between these two,’ he said. ‘Ideally, we get a close game with pressure situations and critical decisions to be made on both sides.’