The NFL offseason has reached the point where fans and the media are trying to read Tom Brady’s lips any time he makes a public appearance, and an exchange the star quarterback had with Julian Edelman at the Syracuse-North Carolina game on Saturday was the latest example of that. As it turns out, nothing Brady said while cameras were rolling was all that noteworthy.
Brady and Edelman were shown on the ESPN broadcast, and Edelman decided to needle his buddy by telling viewers at home that Brady is “coming back.” It initially looked like Brady responded and may have said something along the lines of “he’s not,” but that was not the case. In fact, Brady wasn’t even responding to Edelman.
NFL Network isolated the audio, and it turns out Brady was actually responding to a separate question. Another person who was not shown on camera had asked Brady what he said to Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, and Brady replied “he’s got it.”
What Tom Brady really said Saturday Night…
Edelman: “He’s coming back, he’s coming back.”
Random guy to Brady: "What did you tell Boeheim?"
Brady: "He's got it."
… So not "this guy" or "he's not."
( NFL Network)pic.twitter.com/dWxMUxKpzH
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) March 2, 2020
That was fun while it lasted. It was also a reminder of why we shouldn’t try to read lips, because most of the speculation about what Brady said to Edelman was completely inaccurate.
Edelman obviously wants Brady to return to the Patriots, and the receiver is even selling T-shirts to send a message. If Brady ends up signing with another team, Edelman may be more crushed than fans in New England.
