19 January 2024 , 19:14
673
0
Tom Brady, the retired NFL superstar, has shared his honest thoughts about his former coach, Bill Belichick, following his departure from the New England Patriots.
He praised Belichick on his podcast, saying: "I think we're all better players for having him as our coach," and "And I think there was a level of accountability and discipline that he had. We didn't always want to hear it, but in the end, when we reflect back, we're happy that we did hear it and that we went through it."
Belichick was the one who brought Brady into the New England Patriots team in the 2000 NFL Draft. Together, they created a winning legacy at the Patriots, bagging six Super Bowl victories in nine appearances, along with 17 AFC East titles and 19 winning seasons.
Brady left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019, and since then, neither the Patriots nor Belichick have been the same. After a disappointing 2023 season with a 4-13 record, Belichick and the team opted to end their time together despite him having a year left on his contract. Despite rumours of tension between them during their time at the Patriots, Brady still holds Belichick in high esteem.
Brady said: "I think a lot of coaches are fearful of disciplining players these days because players have social media presence and if they don't like it or hurt their feelings. You know, they can lash back out, and then it becomes a popularity contest between the players and the coaches.
Joe Burrow backs Patrick Mahomes after Kansas City Chiefs reach Super Bowl
"But I'd say one thing that was great about Coach Belichick: he never had that fear. You know, he was gonna tell you what he thought the truth was, even though we may have, you know, all disagreed a little bit at times to what that truth really was."
Brady admired Coach Belichick's hard work and how it made everyone respect him. "Like I respected his work ethic so much because I knew he was combing through every single bit of film, every single week to try to put us in a position to succeed," Brady explained.
The duo won six Super Bowls together in New England (Getty)"So when someone critiques you, 'OK, I'll, I'll embrace that.' Now, if you're not putting the work in and you're critiquing me, eh? I may not listen to it. But I think we all respected the work ethic, therefore we took the coaching."
Even though Brady has left the Patriots and retired from the NFL, it looks like Belichick isn't ready to stop coaching. He's in the lead to become the new coach for the Atlanta Falcons.
Belichick is set to have another interview with the team this weekend. The Falcons are looking for a new head coach after letting Arthur Smith go following three seasons with the same record.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]