Tom Brady likes Antonio Brown. In fact, there is speculation that TB12 could get AB back in the NFL.
Is this a legit possibility?
“You have to decide how you feel about Tom and some of the things he was doing when he was still in New England,” Yahoo! Sports NFL reporter Charles Robinson said on Tiki & Tierney. “They go through the messy divorce with Antonio Brown, but there were people inside the Patriots franchise [who said] Tom took a liking to Antonio Brown. They vibed in the short period of time Antonio was there. What Tom liked about Antonio Brown . . . Antonio Brown practiced really hard. He was a hard practicer. He’s not a guy who was great at being on time in Pittsburgh. Same with the Raiders. But in the limited time Tom was on the practice field with him, he saw a [guy who worked hard and competed]. I think Tom kind of liked that.”
Brown was also, without question, the best wide receiver Brady had played with in a long, long time.
“Tom did not have the skill-position players where they should have been,” Robinson said. “As Antonio Brown burns all of his bridges . . . he was making overtures toward the Patriots, and a lot of them were coming on social media. Well, Tom is liking them. He’s basically sort of cheerleading Antonio Brown from social media accounts. People in the Patriots are like, ‘What is going on? Why is he doing this? This is this passive-aggressive thing he’s doing after Antonio Brown took a shot at our owner.’ He’s always kept in touch with Antonio Brown over the course of all this.”
Brady, it is worth noting, is basically the one person Brown has never had beef with.
“Antonio Brown killed Drew Rosenhaus, he killed Goodell – everybody. Destroyed everybody,” Robinson said. “He never touched Tom. Never. So I think Tom does have a little bit of an affinity toward him. If Tom leaves with the Patriots, he’s going to a place where you’re cooking up a two-year window here, and if you’re going to cook up a two-year window, it’s an all-in sort of move – and I would say the Buccaneers are an all-in situation.”
Brown, of course, has more baggage than an airport. But he’s been on his best behavior as of late.
“There’s a million different things going on with Antonio Brown that could create a problem for him,” Robinson said, “but you will notice he’s been very well-behaved on social media. He’s been dialing it back, and I think Antonio Brown, in his mind, is like, ‘Okay, maybe I’ve got a chance to rejoin this guy in Tampa.’ The skill positions there, if that were to happen – particularly the wide receiver set – would be unbelievable. . . . I would not take it off the table. It is real. Tom really does have an appreciation for Antonio Brown.”