WEDNESDAy, MARCH 18 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST eZ sU D3
and longevity, he earned every-
one’s adoration and will be cele-
brated forever. It has been a
privilege to coach To m Brady for
20 years.”
Brady’s farewell to New Eng-
land came in notes posted on
Twitter and Instagram.
“I wanted to say thank you to
all of the incredible fans and
Patriots supporters,” he wrote.
“[massachusetts] has been my
home for twenty years. It has
truly been the happiest two de-
cades I could have envisioned in
my life and I have nothing but
love and gratitude for my time in
New England. The support has
been overwhelming — I wish
every player could experience it.”
Brady said the Patriots “set a
great standard in pro sports” and
will continue to do so.
“A lthough my football journey
will take place elsewhere, I appre-
ciate everything that we have
achieved and am grateful for our
incredible TEAm accomplish-
ments,” he wrote of his Patriots
teammates. “I have been privi-
leged to have had the opportunity
to know each and everyone of
you, and to have the memories
we’ve created together.”
[email protected]
[email protected]around the organization thought
Kraft’s intervention and media-
tion preserved the pairing be-
yond when it otherwise would
have unraveled. But the coach
and quarterback shared a ruth-
less level of competitiveness and
made the Patriots a relentlessly
dominant team in an era of pari-
ty.
The legacy is complicated, with
the Patriots having been pun-
ished by the NfL in the Spygate
scandal (for improperly videotap-
ing opponents’ coaching signals)
and Brady having been suspend-
ed by the league in the Deflate-
gate saga (for his role in a scheme,
in the NfL’s view, to improperly
under-inflate footballs).
But the team’s supporters dis-
miss talk of the championships
being tainted as being rooted in
jealousy, and no one can dispute
that the Patriots’ on-field results
were unrivaled.
“Tom and I will always have a
great relationship built on love,
admiration, respect and appreci-
ation,” Belichick said. “Tom’s suc-
cess as a player and his character
as a person are exceptional. Noth-
ing about the end of To m’s Patri-
ots career changes how unfath-
omably spectacular it was. With
his relentless competitivenessfor him to stay here. I’ve known
him for half his life. I told him
that. I watched him come here as
a kid with peach fuzz, and he told
me that he’d b e the best decision I
ever made. I think he just wanted
to move on.”
Kraft said he did not believe
Brady’s decision to leave the Pa-
triots was based on financial
considerations.
“The important thing is I still
love him like a son,” Kraft s aid. “It
makes me sad, but he’s e arned the
right to do what he wants. It’s not
what I hoped for.”
Brady joined the Patriots as the
199th player chosen in the 2000
draft, a sixth-round pick out of
michigan. He leaves them after
establishing himself as a pop-cul-
ture icon and, arguably, the most
accomplished quarterback in his-
tory.
“Sometimes in life, it takes
some time to pass before truly
appreciating something or some-
one but that has not been the case
with To m,” Belichick said in a
statement. “He is a special person
and the greatest quarterback of
all-time.”
The relationship between Bra-
dy and Belichick was reported to
have been strained at times in
recent years, and some in andwith free agent marcus mariota
to go with holdover starter Derek
Carr. The 49ers reached last sea-
son’s Super Bowl with Jimmy
Garoppolo, formerly Brady’s
backup in New England, and
reportedly decided against chas-
ing Brady this offseason.
It was a jarring day for the
football-watching world, which
first had to digest the news of
Brady’s departure from the Patri-
ots. The team’s owner, robert
Kraft, said he met monday night
with Brady at the quarterback’s
behest. That meeting took place
at Kraft’s home, he said in a
phone interview Tuesday.
“I got a contact from To mmy
last night, and he told me that he
wanted to see me,” Kraft said. “I
was hoping we could do a deal.
He c ame over. We h ad an amiable,
loving conversation. He told me
that he wanted to move on. I had
given him that freedom. He
earned that over 20 years and all
that he has done. I figured he
deserved that.”
Brady worked out a contract
extension with the Patriots last
offseason that voided following
the 2019 season.
“It was a very good discussion,”
Kraft said. “I love him like a son.
I’m very sad. I wish it were righttone-setter a nd a bar-raiser.”
Without the Patriots, B rady
figures to finish his c areer in a
similar manner as the franchise
he leaves behind: still successful,
not t he same. He d efinitely won’t
embarrass h imself. Assuming he
signs w ith Ta mpa Bay — e lderly
QBs p refer w arm w eather, t oo, i t
seems — h e probably w ill f it w ell
with the B ucs’ f irepower and
show there’s more in his tank than
imagined.
His career will be d efined b y
those 2 0 years in New England,
however. There will be much l azy
pondering o f how his
performance w ith a new team will
impact his legacy, a s if it’s n ot
secure. But what happens next i s
merely the e nding, n ot the lasting
impression.
The phenomenal career of To m
Brady is l eft to die alone now. S o is
the e ra o f Belichick’s incessant
genius. B rady a nd the Patriots
had t o say goodbye t his way, t heir
way, n ot a forced way.
They w eren’t a fraid of their
dynasty’s d eath. They j ust didn’t
want to be there when i t
happened.
[email protected]For more by Jerry Brewer, visit
washingtonpost.com/brewer.occasion.
Age has made B rady human,
but h e’s still g ifted enough to
command a top salary. A nd w ith
his c areer now y ear to year, he
isn’t i nto t aking pay cuts
anymore. The Patriots w eren’t
keen on o ffering a $30 m illion-
per-season contract to a player
who c an be a star but n ot their
savior a nymore. In t heir cold,
value-based model o f roster
management, i t doesn’t compute.
Belichick is more terrified o f
making an exception than
revising the franchise a s we know
it.
The dynasty i s over. Even
though he never w on big a s a head
coach before Brady, Belichick will
continue to be successful.
Depending on whom t hey choose
as a new quarterback, the Patriots
might e ven fend off Buffalo and
win t he AfC E ast again next
season. There still m ight b e time
for B elichick, 67, to build a
championship roster before he
retires. B ut without Brady, the
Patriots w ill never b e the s ame.
“Tom w as n ot j ust a player who
bought i nto our program,”
Belichick said in a statement. “ He
was o ne of its o riginal creators.
To m lived a nd perpetuated o ur
culture. o n a daily basis, he was acallous of a team builder. And
Brady, for a ll the monetary
sacrifices he has made a nd all t he
patience he has shown in
declining t o demand better
offensive talent around him, is t oo
proud t o squat on a franchise
lukewarm about what he can o ffer
as his 43rd birthday a pproaches
in August.
So TB12 is gone.
“A lthough my f ootball journey
will take p lace elsewhere, I
appreciate everything that we
have achieved and am grateful for
our i ncredible TEAm
accomplishments,” h e wrote.
Brady is m aking a classy exit,
but it’s s till difficult and loaded
with conflict. He w ould rather
play against his coach than live in
doubt with h im. Unlike
montana’s t rade f rom San
francisco t o Kansas City, favre’s
exit f rom G reen B ay t o the New
York Jets and later minnesota or
Peyton manning’s departure f rom
Indianapolis to Denver, there is
no Steve Young, Aaron rodgers o r
Andrew Luck in place to succeed
Brady in New England. T he
Patriots w ould p refer to welcome
uncertainty than let it r ide with a
future Hall o f famer who, while i n
decline, can s till reflect t he talent
around h im and b oost it o nrun.
They d idn’t want to t ake that
chance, however. So you’re left
with a conclusion t hat illustrates
the v ery thing t hat turned t he
seemingly m otley mix of Brady,
Belichick and o wner robert Kraft
into a dynastic trio: They’re too
enamored with the pursuit o f
excellence to sit together, r elax
and w atch a dynasty die. T hey’re
too c ompetitive to let that
happen, particularly Brady and
Belichick.
Belichick feared staying t he
same and getting progressively
worse. His i nterpretation of the
Patriot Way is u nforgiving and
unemotional: He n ever holds on
to the p ast, a nd he refuses to fall
in love with the p resent. He w on
Super Bowls and worried about
the l ong playoff r un h indering
preparation for n ext season. He i s
a machine, a relentless tactician,
and i n Brady, he found a
quarterback w ith the t alent, t he
mind and t he drive to lead a team
that transformed all of h is
coaching philosophies and
strategies into an u ndeviating
operation.
This wasn’t g oing t o end with
Brady and Belichick p laying
bridge in some kind of NfL
retirement h ome. Belichick is toome. I cherished every opportunity
I had t o be a part of our t eam, and
I love you all for that. our team
has a lways set a great standard in
pro s ports and I know i t will
continue to do j ust that.”
In t he end, a move that had
been telegraphed for a year still
felt stunning. for two decades,
Brady and the Patriots defied
logic i n creating the l ongest a nd
most controversial dynasty i n
American p rofessional sports
history. Their a ccomplishments
during t his era are still too vast t o
fully appreciate: six titles, nine
Super Bowl a ppearances, 13 AfC
championship game
appearances, 17 p layoff
appearances, 18 seasons o f at l east
10 wins, 19 straight w inning
seasons.
factor i n the degree of
difficulty in a n NfL legislated for
parity, a nd New England can
stake its c laim as t he g reatest
dynasty i n sports, despite
Spygate, Deflategate or any other
cheater debates. With t he strict,
indefatigable a nd brilliant B ill
Belichick coaching t hem, t he
Patriots s taved off the end for so
long that, even w hile a nticipating
their demise, you w ondered i f
they might f ind a way to squeeze
another t hree years out of thisreached the d oorstep.
But f or as done a s Brady a nd
the Patriots s eemed, they were
still a 12-4 t eam last s eason and
won 1 0 of their first 11 games.
They n eeded c hange and youth,
but t heir h opes for a seventh
championship weren’t d ead. They
were teetering, t hough, and every
year they stayed in the present
they complicated their future.
Still, g iven t heir dominance a s
well as the cyclical nature of
sports, how could the f uture
possibly be better, or e ven close, to
the p resent?
Nevertheless, they w aved the
towel. A s free a gency began, t he
Patriots w eren’t s nuggling next to
Brady, and t eams such as the Los
Angeles Chargers and Tampa B ay
Buccaneers were giddy about
trying to acquire the 4 2-year-old
quarterback. So Brady took to
social media Tuesday a nd sent an
Instagram g oodbye to t he only
team he has k nown in his 20 NfL
seasons.
“I couldn’t be the man I am
today w ithout the relationships
you h ave allowed me to build with
you,” h e wrote in thanking the
Patriots o rganization. “I h ave
benefited f rom all y ou have given
brewer from d1
JERRY BREWER
Elite player a nd his coach are both t oo competitive to quietly fade away together
professional football
has postponed teams’ offseason
workouts indefinitely, p otentially
affecting Brady’s ability to adapt
to Arians’s offense and to his new
teammates. But by passing up the
Chargers’ offer, he avoids the
daunting competitive task of
playing in the same division —
the AfC West — with the Super
Bowl champion Kansas City
Chiefs and their star quarterback,
Patrick mahomes.
Brady replaces Jameis Win-
ston at quarterback with Ta mpa
Bay, and he resisted the lure of
the L.A. market. With the Char-
gers, he would have taken over for
their longtime quarterback, Phil-
ip rivers, who agreed Tuesday to
a one-year deal with the India-
napolis Colts.
The Te nnessee Titans, San
francisco 49ers and Las Vegas
raiders also had been linked to
Brady earlier in the process. But
the Titans struck a four-year,
$118 million deal to re-sign quar-
terback ryan Ta nnehill. The
raiders reached an agreementBrady, a free agent for the first
time, suggested he would contin-
ue playing rather than retire,
saying his “football journey will
take place elsewhere.”
The Buccaneers and Los Ange-
les Chargers were believed to
have made contract offers to Bra-
dy worth $30 million per season
or more, according to a person
with knowledge of the delibera-
tions. But Brady apparently
wanted to keep his family on the
East Coast, and the Chargers
were reported by early Tuesday
evening to have resigned them-
selves to losing out. The Bucca-
neers were thought to be selling
Brady on the prospect of playing
for their well-regarded coach,
Bruce Arians.
Brady faces a potentially diffi-
cult transition, changing teams
for the first time during an offsea-
son in which normal routines
have been interrupted by corona-
virus-related issues. The league
brady from d1
M ove to Tampa Bay ends
Brady’s time with Patriots
coach and started construction on
Gillette Stadium. But t he bad old
days were still fresh w hen Brady
first stood under center — h is first
playoff game came at foxboro,
with its frozen metal bleachers
and brutal concrete concourses.
The Patriots t oday are clearly
the most popular team in New
England. They d o not have the
history of the Celtics, and they are
not as beloved as the red Sox. But
like most American fan bases,
New England worships its f ootball
team far more than any other
franchise. maybe, given the N fL’s
explosion in popularity across the
country, the shift would have
happened without Brady. But f or
two decades, he played the most
visible role.
Broken marriages between
players and fan bases can be
messy. This will n ot be one, e ven if
Brady had at l east partial agency
in his departure. There w ill be
sadness that Brady will finish his
career elsewhere, and there will
be some In-Bill-We-Trust devotees
who have no problem w atching
the quarterback leave a year early
rather than a year after his skills
erode. A surprisingly large portion
of New Englanders will be fine
with Brady choosing where he
plays next: Their history together
means t hey will be happy if he is
happy. That i s an uncommon
sentiment, but the relationship
between Brady a nd New England
is unlike any other in American
sports.
In u ncertain times for every
facet of American life, Brady and
the Patriots and the rest of New
England will m ove forward with
an extra layer of oddity. B rady has
been a part of life in New England
since t he turn of the century. He
was a quarterback fresh out of the
University of michigan who w as
23 back t hen, and now he is a 42-
year-old husband a nd father
wondering, like so many others in
New England, what comes next.
[email protected]brand. Through everything, he
was always their quarterback.
The Deflategate saga united
Patriots fans behind Brady like
nothing had b efore. A region that
relishes us-against-them fights
supported Brady to irrational
lengths. He r esponded with t hree
Super B owl titles i n his final six
years i n New England.
The Patriots’ NfL preeminence
feels ingrained now, but before
the mid-’90s, the Patriots were a
low-rent franchise, an
afterthought locally after the red
Sox, Bruins and Celtics. I t changed
when robert Kraft bought t he
team, h ired Bill Parcells as headThose a re all concerns f or
another day. B rady’s g reatness
made him an idol in New
England, but his longevity is what
made Tuesday morning’s
announcement so unmooring.
Patriots fans remember Tawm-my
Brady making his debut in
foxboro S tadium a fter Drew
Bledsoe’s i njury. T hey watched
him duel Peyton manning, win
mVP awards, l ead an undefeated
regular season. They s aw h im tear
his ACL and recover. They
watched him, from behind the
barriers Brady necessarily
constructed, become a father, a
tabloid target, a family man, aeven weirder. Brady joining t he
Ta mpa Bay Buccaneers o n a deal
worth at l east $30 million per y ear
is “essentially” d one, The
Washington Post’s mark maske
reported Tuesday night, which
means o ne of the most glamorous
athletes in the world w ill be plying
his trade in an NfC South
backwater. He’ll have perhaps the
best wide receiver combo i n the
NfL to pass t o in mike Evans and
Chris Godwin and an offensive
maestro in Coach Bruce Arians. It
will be fascinating to see how
Brady, ensconced in one system
and one culture h is entire career,
adjusts to a new football life a t 43.professional s ports, a juggernaut
that played for nine Super B owls
in an 18-year span and won six.
Brady’s d eparture will feel
devastating to some i n New
England, inevitable to others who
have been r eading the tea leaves —
including the comments of
Brady’s f ather, who for years has
predicted an unceremonious end
with the Patriots — a nd strange to
everyone. Brady will l ook weird in
a different u niform to every NfL
fan. for New Englanders, it will b e
like seeing the foliage stay g reen
in fall.
The uniform B rady has
apparently chosen w ill make itA baby born at
massachusetts
General the day
the New England
Patriots selected
To m Brady i n the
NfL draft has e xperienced a full
adolescence knowing only o ne
quarterback. A high school senior
in Bangor, maine, on the night the
Patriots won their first Super
Bowl is now approaching middle
age, settling into life w ith
mortgage payments and day-care
pickups. New Hampshire parents
who trucked their elementary
schoolers to Brady’s f irst games
are grandparents now, and 80-
year-old retirees in Burlington,
Vt., have gathered around
television screens on snowy
Sundays and w atched B rady for a
quarter of their lives.
over two decades, Brady
became a fixture in New England
living rooms, a constant presence,
a talisman embedded into the
fabric of autumn. He l ived for a
time in Boston’s B ack Bay and
moved t o Brookline, but whether
he became a New Englander i s up
for debate: He g ot too famous t oo
fast, married a supermodel, won
six Super Bowls, launched a self-
care personal brand and l ived a
life unrecognizable to anyone but
himself. It i s also beside the point.
He u nquestionably became part
of New England life, a pillar on
par with Nubble Lighthouse,
faneuil Hall or the Superman
Building.
Now he is leaving. Brady
announced he will continue his
career with another team, that his
“football j ourney will take place
elsewhere.” C oach Bill Belichick
has run a ruthless operation a s he
turned the Patriots into a dynasty,
and his dismissal of sentiment
applied even to Brady, whom t he
Patriots made little effort to woo
as he became a free agent f or the
first time. Brady a nd Belichick
transformed the Patriots into a
crown j ewel of American
On the
NFL
ADAM
KILGORE
As icon exits, New Englanders must get used to new normal
tOm PennIngtOn/AgenCe FRAnCe-PResse/getty ImAges
Over two decades, Tom brady led the New england Patriots to six Super bowl titles and a 219-64 regular season record as a starter.