In a new interview with The Howard Stern Show, Tom Brady, who played for the New England Patriots for 20 seasons, opened up about his legacy and revealed that he would not have been successful without head coach for the Patriots, Bill Belichick.
“I think it’s a pretty sh*tty argument actually that people would say that, because again, I can’t do his job, and he can’t do mine,” Brady expressed during the interview. “So the fact you could say, ‘Would I be successful without him, the same level of success?’ I don’t believe I would have been. But I feel the same vice versa, as well.”
Throughout his career, the NFL legend has won a record-breaking 6 out of 9 Super Bowl Championships, four Super Bowl MVP awards, and three NFL MVP awards.
Despite no longer being a Patriot, Brady said he’ll remain grateful to Belichick, who selected him in the 6th round for the NFL Draft in 2000, CNN reports.
“To have him allowed me to be the best I can be, so I’m grateful for that. I very much believe that he feels the same way about me because we’ve expressed that to each other,” he said.
Many wondered if the baller held any resentment toward his coach of practically his entire career for not allowing him to retire as Patriot, but Brady says he doesn’t.
“No, absolutely not,” Brady responded. “No, because this is a part for me, in my life, to experience something very different. There are ways for me to grow and evolve in a different way that I haven’t had the opportunity to do that aren’t right or wrong, but just right for me.”
He continued, stating that a legacy was never his goal, according to ESPN.
“I never cared about legacy. I could give a sh*t about that,” he added. I never once, when I was in high school, said, ‘Man, I can’t wait for what my football legacy looks like.’ That’s just not me. That’s just not my personality.”
Brady, who now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said: “it was just time” in regards to moving on and joining another team.
“I don’t know what to say other than that,” Brady continued. “I accomplished everything I could in two decades with an incredible organization, an incredible group of people, and that will never change. No one can ever take that away from me; no one can ever take those experiences or Super Bowl championships away from us.”
“But I would say I probably knew before the start of last season that it was my last year,” he said. “I knew that our time was coming to an end.”
But Brady also understood Belichick’s position, in preparing for the future of the team, as Brady reached peak age.
“So what I could control is trying to be the best I could be in both of those situations also. I got into uncharted territory as an athlete because I started to break the mold of what so many other athletes had experienced, so I got to the point where I was an older athlete, and he’s starting to plan for the future, which is what his responsibility is. I don’t fault him for that. That’s what he should be doing. Not that I would ever coach, but if I was ever in a position of authority, I would understand that too,” Brady explained.
At the end of the day, regardless of rumors and what other people say about their relationship, Brady knows where Belichick’s loyalty lies. Â
“I think he has a lot of loyalty. He and I have had a lot of conversations that nobody has ever been privy to, nor should they be, that so many wrong assumptions were made about our relationship or about how he felt about me. I know genuinely how he feels about me,” Brady told Stern. “Now I’m not going to respond to every rumor or assumption that’s made, other than what his responsibility as coach is to get the best player for the team, not only in the short term but in the long term as well.”
Brady also discusses his wife not being satisfied with their marriage. Brady and supermodel Gisele Bundchen have been married since 2009, and share two kids together.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Although Brady was the top quarterback in the league, Bundchen wasn’t happy with their relationship due to his career taking majority of his time.
“A couple of years ago, she didn’t feel like I was doing my part for the family,” Brady explained. “She felt like I would play football all season and she would take care of the house, and then all of a sudden when the season ended, I’d be like, ‘Great, let me get into all of my other business activities. Let me get into my football training.'”
After being questioned over and over by his wife on when he was going to make his family a priority, Brady knew things had to change.
“She’s sitting there going, ‘Well, when are you going to do things for the house? When are you going to take the kids to school and do that?’ And that was a big part of our marriage. I had to, like, check myself. Because she’s like, ‘I have goals and dreams too,” he revealed.
In order to make his wife happy, Brady decreased his time spent with the Patriots organization.
Tom Brady on marriage with Giselle, says he stopped going to OTAs the past few years because Giselle wanted him to start carrying more of the load at home. “I had to check myself.” Says she “wasn’t satisfied with our marriage.” pic.twitter.com/2ktCSzTh8r
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) April 8, 2020
Not only did the couple begin attending marriage counseling, but Bundchen also wrote Brady a letter about her personal feelings, that Brady still holds onto, to this day.
“She actually wrote me a letter, and it was a very thought out letter that she wrote to me, and I still have it, and I keep it in a drawer, and I read it,” he told Stern. “It’s a very heartfelt letter for her to say this is where I’m at in our marriage, and it’s a good reminder for me that things are going to change and evolve over time. What happened and what worked for us ten years ago won’t work for us forever because we are growing in different ways.”
“I found a wife and a woman that I saw myself with for the rest of my life, and she’s been an amazing supporter in everything I’ve done,” he added.
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