Tom Brady’s tenure in New England ended after 20 seasons, nine Super Bowl appearances, six Super Bowl titles, four Super Bowl MVPs and three NFL MVPs. He shared an unmatched run of success with Bill Belichick.
But don’t blame Brady for the breakup.
“I ultimately think it’s Belichick,” CBS Sports HQ analyst Brady Quinn said on Tiki & Tierney, when asked who is more responsible for this divorce. “He’s the head coach. He’s the one that’s staying. I think the one that stays is usually the one that’s ultimately responsible.”
Belichick is often compared to Bill Parcells. Heck, there was even a "30 for 30" about their successful yet rocky relationship.
“Looking at the difference between the two, Bill Parcells had the ability obviously to push buttons, but he also knew when to kind of pull off,” Quinn said. “Bill Belichick has always been the type of coach that wanted to treat everyone the same. I’m not sure if that kind of got to a point where it would just become wearing. Two decades of the same thing over and over and over again, even with as much success as both experienced together, it would get wearing. It would get tiresome, and I think it started to show.”
Brady, who turns 43 in August, signed a two-year $50 million deal with Tampa Bay. The contract is fully guaranteed and includes up to $9 million in incentives.
“At this point in time in Tom Brady’s career,” Quinn said, “’I’m sure he thought to himself, ‘I’ve accomplished all this with Bill Belichick. I’d love to see what it’d be like with another head coach who’s going to appreciate me in a different way and maybe it’s not the same team meetings and it’s not the same tongue-lashings,’ or whatever it may be, sitting through all that. A lot of players can speak to that, how sometimes that gets stale. I think it goes back to probably Bill Belichick taking the same approach he always had since he’s been a head coach, and it’s probably ultimately to blame for the breakup.”