At this point, there really is nothing to say about Tom Brady that hasn't already been said.
The guy just turned 44-years-old, and is slinging the rock like he's 24, as the Bucs are not only the defending Super Bowl champs, but the favorite to repeat again this season.
Of course with every win Brady and the Bucs pick up, it makes the New England Patriots - and Bill Belichick's - decision to let Brady leave that much more indefensible.
At this point, there is no doubt it was the wrong move. And on Thursday, Brady's trainer, Alex Guerrero gave insight into how and why it might've happened and how the relationship between Brady and Belichick deteriorated.
Here's what he told the Boston Herald:
“The interesting thing I think there — and this is just me, an outsider looking in — it was like Bill never really . . . I think his emotions or feelings never evolved with age,” Guerrero said. “I think in time, with Tom, as Tom got into his late 30s or early 40s, I think Bill was still trying to treat him like that 20-year-old kid that he drafted. And all the players, I think, realized Tom was different. He’s older, so he should be treated differently. And all the players, none of them would have cared that he was treated differently. I think that was such a Bill thing. He never evolved. So you can’t treat someone who’s in his 40s like they’re 20. It doesn’t work.”
It's an interesting comment from Guerrero, and as a close personal confidant of Brady's it's hard to imagine that is not the sentiment of the entire Brady camp. Let's just put it this way: The fact that the quote came out a week, and a couple days before Brady and the Bucs are set to travel to Foxboro next Sunday does not seem coincidental.
At the same time, while it was clearly the wrong move for New England, there is a tiny bit of revisionist history here as well.
Yes Brady is still elite and playing some of the best ball of his career. But at the same time, that's in large part because of the fact that the Bucs have unquestionably the best skill position talent in the league. You know the names: Mike Evans. Chris Godwin. Antonio Brown. Gronk. Leonard Fournette. On and on.
So while it's easy to pile on Belichick, we can also be honest: Brady probably wouldn't be having the level of success right now had he stayed in New England that he is in Tampa. Whether it's because of Belichick's poor drafting of skill position guys, refusal to pay big-time free agents, love of shipping off productive players a year early, or whatever, the Patriots wouldn't look like the Bucs do now if Brady had stayed.
Put simply, while it's clear there is still some bitterness from the Brady camp, everything worked out the best for everyone.
As Brady's wife once famously said "My husband can't throw the ball, and catch it himself."
In Tampa, he doesn't have to.
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