Bruce Arians has repeatedly denied the rumors of a rift between him and Tom Brady, but many people felt the coach’s decision to retire was evidence that something was amiss. Not surprisingly, Arians is holding his ground.
During his farewell press conference on Thursday, Arians was once again asked if he had issues with Brady last season. He said the two have a “great relationship.” Arians then seemed to speculate that some of the rift talk came from him cussing out Brady like he would any other player.
"All the players, every one of them has gotten cussed out, including [Brady]."
Bruce Arians never held back, even with the GOAT. 😂 pic.twitter.com/jtg0WgqZ4P
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) March 31, 2022
“People gotta write s—,” Arians said. “It couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Former NFL offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger was the first to say back in February that there were a significant rift between Brady and Arians. Ohrnberger, whose close friend and former college teammate is Bucs assistant coach A.Q. Shipley, claimed Arians irritated Brady by trying to micromanage him and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. Arians slammed the report on numerous occasions.
Of course, the theory now is that Brady told the Buccaneers he would come out of retirement only if Arians moved on. Arians insists that is not the case, and we will probably never know for sure.
Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
