Legendary quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots famously parted ways following the 2019 season with Brady leaving the team to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent. But it sounds like team owner Robert Kraft thinks that Brady likely would have remained with the team had he parted ways with head coach Bill Belichick, instead.
During an interview in AppleTV+’s documentary “The Dynasty: New England Patriots,” Robert Kraft admits that if he had chose to part ways with Bill Belichick, he thinks Tom Brady would have remained with the Patriots for the remainder of his career.
“Yes, I feel pretty strongly about that,” Kraft said according to the New York Post. “To be honest, I didn’t want to move on from either one, but the point is keeping them together for 20 years is the hardest thing I’ve done in my business career.”
Kraft said that there was always some tension between Brady and Belichick, but eventually it got to the point where it was “just totally dysfunctional.”
“Basically it was a silent relationship,” Kraft said. “Before there had been tension, but now it was just totally dysfunctional … He represented a threat to Bill’s full power. He didn’t want Tommy there.”
Brady himself seemed to indicate that Belichick was the reason why he chose to leave the team.
“Me and coach Belichick, we did what we loved and competed for 20 years together,” Brady said in the documentary series. “But I wasn’t going to sign another contract (in New England) even if I wanted to play until (I was) 50. Based on how things had gone, I wasn’t going to sign up for more of it.”
Brady obviously went on to win a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while Belichick did not win even win another playoff game following Brady’s departure.
