Tom Brady, as we all know, signed a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason, but he was reportedly considering, at least for a time, joining the Indianapolis Colts.
That likely would have been strange for both parties, given the playoff clashes between the Colts and Patriots over the years. In fact, former Colts All-Pro and Super Bowl champion Dwight Freeney doesn’t believe Brady would have actually played for Indianapolis.
“No way, no how – there’s no way,” Freeney said on The Zach Gelb Show, laughing. “I don’t think he could have stomached it. I don’t think I could have stomached it. I love Tom, he’s a great guy and all of that stuff. But it’s kind of like how could you actually [do that]?”
Freeney, 40, knows from experience. In 2015, he was looking for a new team – and actually considered New England.
Sort of.
“Its funny,” he said. “I went on a visit when I was a free agent after San Diego and the Patriots brought me in. As I was walking through the building, I just couldn’t [do it]. I would have to stare myself in the mirror and say, ‘I hate you’ every single day I went to work – just because I’m so embedded in the Indianapolis Colts and the organization and all of that. I just couldn’t do it – even though they have a historic team, great people.”
Freeney signed with Arizona instead and later spent time with Atlanta, Seattle and Detroit before retiring in 2018.
“Bill Belichick is a great guy,” Freeney said. “I’ve [gotten to] know [him] very well over the years. I just don’t know if I could have done it, and I think it’s probably the same thing for Tom. . . . That was our No. 1 game. I don’t think I could do it.”
As it stands, Brady is a Buc and the Colts will move forward with Philip Rivers. A long-term replacement for Andrew Luck is still a work in progress.
Luck, 30, retired unexpectedly in August 2019.
“In the end, he had to do what he had to do,” Freeney said. “People don’t realize what happens to players. They just see them on Sundays and just think, ‘Oh okay, [he’s] having the time of his life and he should be grateful and all of that. I’m not saying he wasn’t grateful, but in the end, people go through their struggles and they go through their problems, just like anybody else. And for Andrew, for him to just go out the way that he did where he just didn’t love the game anymore and he just couldn’t take the hits and the rehab process, it’s just not for everybody.
“What people don’t realize is that playing football, for a lot of these players or most of these players, it’s only a small percentage of your life,” Freeney continued. “You’re going to play for 10 years, and God willing you’re going to live until you’re 80 or 90. So understand that life is more important, and your health is more important. I know it’s a bummer for a lot of fans and maybe for him, but the thing is he has to think about his health and his mental [health] throughout his entire life going forward.”