The debate of whether Tom Brady or Bill Belichick played a more important role in the six championships the two won together with the New England Patriots will live on forever, but Brady views it as pointless.
Belichick was a guest on the latest episode of Brady’s “Let’s Go!” podcast, which was released on Monday. During the coach’s appearance, he and Brady heaped praise on one another and removed all doubt that their relationship is in a good place.
Brady was at one point asked about the “Brady vs. Belichick” debate. He called it a “stupid conversation.”
“For me, there’s nobody I’d rather be associated with. I think it’s always such a stupid conversation to say Brady vs. Belichick because, in my mind, that’s not what partnerships are about,” Brady said. “Coach couldn’t play quarterback and I couldn’t coach. The best part about football, as coach says a lot, is do your job. He asked me to play quarterback, he didn’t ask me to coach.”
Brady added that he felt like the media grew desperate to drive a wedge between him and Belichick after all of the success stories became repetitive.
“In my view, it was just always people trying to pull us apart. I don’t think we ever felt that with each other,” Brady said. “We never were trying to pull each other apart. We were always trying to go in the same direction. I think in New England for 20 years together, they get tired of writing the same story. Once they write all the nice things, the championships, then they just start going, ‘Well, this works. Let’s just start trying to divide them.'”
You can hear more of Brady’s comments below:
Here's Tom Brady's full answer on the "stupid" Brady-Belichick debate.
"The people that tried to drive us apart actually brought us closer together." pic.twitter.com/xqsl3A0O4X
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandallNESN) February 7, 2023
There were plenty of stories of serious tension between Brady and Belichick when Brady left the Patriots after the 2019 season. Some of them were probably true. Belichick has always preferred to part with players before their skills begin to decline rather than after it becomes too late. It seems like he tried to do that with Brady, and Brady was hurt that the coach did not make an exception after all the two had accomplished together.
On one hand, you could say Belichick was wrong to let Brady leave New England. On the other, the Patriots’ decision to not bring Brady back undoubtedly motivated him, which was likely the driving force behind him leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title in 2020. There is no guarantee he would have been the same player had he re-signed with the Patriots, who were facing a bad salary cap situation and starting to decline even with Brady.
One thing is for sure — Belichick’s approval still means a great deal to Brady. The 45-year-old made that clear with the way he reacted to Belichick praising him on the podcast.
