Greg Bedard is one of the best writers of Patriots news. The following is from his Boston Sports Journal which has some of the best writing on New England sports if you are interested.
Shortly after witnessing Brett Favre‘s surprise retirement announcement on March 6, 2008, in the Lambeau Field Atrium, I had a conversation with a longtime NFL executive. At the time, there were rumors about Favre butting heads with Packers management — namely, Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy — that basically forced Favre into retirement. But all we were left with was Favre’s tear-lined face and his words from the dais, which seemed heartfelt and genuine. “I’ve given everything I possibly can give to this organization, to the game of football, and I don’t think I’ve got anything left to give, and that’s it,” Favre said. “I know I can play, but I don’t think I want to. And that’s really what it comes down to.” Even with follow-up questions, Favre convincingly stuck to his line that it was just time to move on. But knowing some of the chatter behind the scenes — mostly about Thompson (similar to Bill Belichick in his lack of sentimentality when it comes to his roster management) and Favre — and, most importantly, the unshakeable iciness between Deanna Favre, Thompson and McCarthy — they were all seated right next to each other off to the side of Favre, but they could have been miles away — there had to be more to it than Favre just being done with football. That uncomfortable tension is what I was discussing with the NFL executive. “There’s one thing you need to remember with these guys,” he said in referencing the NFL’s great QBs. “It always ends badly, and they blame everyone else for it.” And he was right. Soon enough, things got messy off the field between the Packers. Friends of Favre were sniping at Thompson, McCarthy and team president Mark Murphy behind the scenes. They didn’t do this for Brett. They didn’t tell him this. It’s their fault he’s not a fault Packer anymore. He didn’t want any of this. Sound familiar? As we’ve come to learn in recent weeks, Tom Brady isn’t an exception to this. He’s not special or different. He’s just like every other great, future Hall of Fame quarterback who wound up finishing his career in another uniform. We’ve now reached the stage of the fallout of his departure to Tampa where people are starting to air Brady’s grievances. Of course, all this chatter behind the scenes is missing one thing … any blame on Brady’s behalf. (Hmm, I wonder why that is.) We’ll get into a little history lesson, and then show what’s really at the heart of all this, and Brady’s part in it. The same thing happened with Dan Marino. His final three seasons in the NFL were marred by constant tension with Jimmy Johnson, who wanted to take the offense away from the trigger-happy Marino. It did not end well, with a 62-7 loss to the Jaguars in the playoffs. In Marino’s heart, he knows that he needs Johnson. In Johnson’s heart, he knows he needs Marino. Johnson isn’t getting ready to trade Marino, cut Marino or ask him to retire. But their combination is tenuous, built on a foundation of Marino’s fragile legs and piled high with huge expectations by all involved, including fans. Marino could have added trust to the foundation. He could have said he not only understands what Johnson is doing, he agrees with it completely. He could have said he knows he’s not going to play forever and that Johnson has to keep an eye on the future. He didn’t. Instead, Marino smiled slyly and took momentary glee in watching Johnson stew. Marino was being human, doing what prideful people often do when they are hurt or uneasy. You don’t think Belichick and Johnson, his fishing buddy, have discussed Marino and Brady? Joe Montana said he mentally left San Francisco during the middle of his final season with the 49ers (sound familiar?) before behind traded to the Chiefs. “I knew I was leaving part way through last season,” Montana said. “My mind was made up. “I could see they were trying to make the change. . . . Otherwise they would have given me a shot right from the beginning, that we could compete.” Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll had a similar relationship to Brady and Belichick — Bradshaw complained for years that Noll rode him too hard and wish he would have been traded at some point. You could see Brady giving a similar interview about Belichick at some point. Then there was Favre, whose final years were similar to Brady’s. Thompson was hired in 2005 when it became apparent Mike Sherman couldn’t be the coach and GM. Thompson promptly came in and released Favre-favored linemen Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle, and safety Darren Sharper. Thompson drafted Aaron Rodgers in the first round before going 4-12. In ’06, Thompson fired Sherman, a Favre enabler, and replaced him with McCarthy with the edict of taking the offense back from Favre. In ’07, Thompson failed to trade for Randy Moss — which Favre pushed for behind the scenes — and drafted a bust at defensive tackle 16th overall. “I just want to win; maybe I see things the wrong way,” Favre said at the time. “I don’t want to ruffle any feathers and I want people to respect me. Sometimes I think it’s hard for them to let Brett go. They might think that we pay him a lot of money, but he still gives us the best chance to win. I’ve never been told that, but there are times when I wonder if I’m the odd man out here and they just don’t know how to tell me.” Favre had a tremendous ’07 season as the Packers reached the NFC Championship Game. And then he retired. The only real exceptions to this in modern times were John Elway and Peyton Manning, but those were special circumstances — not to mention they retired after Super Bowl victories. Elway bought into the conversion of the Broncos into a running team whose identity was the zone blocking scheme and Terrell Davis — and not Elway. Manning’s neck injuries made his Indianapolis exit a moot point — that could have gotten really uncomfortable — and then Elway was there to make sure Manning’s interests were taking care of in Denver. Troy Aikman retired due to concussions. Almost universally, the NFL executive was right: it almost always ends badly with a great QB, and the quarterback ends up blaming everyone else. You never hear them say, “Yeah, the coaches put me in a great position and I just failed to come through.” There’s always something else. There’s always some drama. So Tom Brady Sr. himself was right when he told the New York Times Magazine in 2015 that, “It will end badly.” He just left off the part where his son’s part of it will be ignored. Not that I don’t think Brady isn’t right to feel the way he does in many respects. His departure from New England could have been avoided: If Belichick just gave him an earned five-year extension in the 2017 offseason … If Belichick didn’t bust his chops over Alex Guerrero … If Belichick just gave Brady a few more real weapons to work with the past two years instead of hoarding all the additions and depth on the defense … If Belichick paid Brady his worth, especially after so many years of sacrificing for the team. It all could have ended differently. Those are real and true gripes on Brady’s behalf. This stuff about Brady’s input being ignored in the gameplan, or Brady feeling that he was being phased out is just complete and utter nonsense. Do I think it’s being said by Brady’s camp, and/or people who want Belichick and his coaches to be made out as the bad guys in all this? Absolutely. But it’s straight out of the Favre Family playbook — all we’re missing is phone calls from Mississippi area codes, and Scott Favre and agent Bus Cook calling media members out of nowhere. Brady’s people just should be saying: “Tom was really worn down by everything with the Patriots the past couple of years — it was unnecessarily hard — nothing was really going to change, so he just decided to try something new.” That’s really what all this amounts to. Like I said, some of it is legit. But some of this was also just in Brady’s head. Belichick definitely helped to put those thoughts there, but the slights were invented by Brady. The downward trajectory came after the Atlanta Super Bowl, as we’ve chronicled many times before. Brady was riding high after that triumph. Go listen to his podcast with Peter King from Montana after that — the “answers to the test” podcast. Brady sounds like he’s ready to play another 10 years at a high level. He’s pumped. He’s ready to conquer everything. There’s no hint at skipping OTAs. Then it was all downhill from there. No contract extension. Jimmy Garoppolo is not traded and won’t be dealt for four first-round picks. Brady asking questions about where the loyalty is, where his security is. Garoppolo is traded, but Brady still wants that extension, that security. He’s told his security is in San Francisco. The Eagles Super Bowl and Malcolm Butler. Rob Gronkowski is nearly traded. Drew Brees can get two years guaranteed but Brady only gets incentives. Another contract negotiation goes nowhere … that’s it, Brady’s done unless Belichick changes his tune. He doesn’t. Hello Tampa. This stuff about Brady lacking input into the gameplan? Nonsense. What about Brady’s belief that he’s being phased out of the Patriots offense? In his increasingly paranoid head. Here are Brady’s average pass attempts per game in later years: 2014: 36.4 (Super Bowl win) 2015: 39.0 2016: 36.0 (Super Bowl win) 2017: 36.3 2018: 35.6 (Super Bowl win) 2019: 38.3 So Brady was done with the Patriots because he attempted his most passes since ’15? That’s being phased out? That’s the offense becoming less Tom-centric? Sure looked like they relied on him more than ever, it’s just he wasn’t given the horses to run with. This stuff that you’re hearing — he felt he was being phased out, Josh McDaniels was no longer his buffer, Brady lacked the same input — is what you get from an aging athlete, who has always been worried about being replaced, seeing ghosts. Brady was so deadset on being the one to orchestrate the final years of his career, that he was paranoid about Belichick beating him to the punch. What you won’t hear from Team Brady is that Brady largely checked out in 2018 after the loss to Pittsburgh and hated how the offense pivoted to a more run-based attack. Brady probably hated the Rams Super Bowl gameplan as well and how it only produced 13 points. Was Brady being phased out in ’18? Was the offense becoming less Tom-centric? Of course not. The Patriots were trying to win football games with what they had on hand. And it worked … so I guess we won’t hear any public complaints about that season. Of course there was Brady no longer showing up in the offseason, which meant that the quarterback was no longer the hardest worker on the team — a mantra for Belichick teams. There were disagreements with the strength and nutrition staffs as TB12 creeped more into Gillette. Tom The Patriot was now Tom The Business Man/Patriot. Closer to the field, there was general unhappiness with how Belichick allowed the offensive coaches at the positions most central to Brady’s success — tight ends and receivers — to be staffed by neophytes (Nick Caley) and those with divided attentions, especially on gameday (Joe Judge). Brady was also dissatisfied with the Antonio Brown decision, the personnel approaches at receiver and tight end, and what he was surrounded with by the end of 2019. Brady has a right to be upset about most if not all of that. The Patriots’ offensive approach the past two years basically devolved into, “Josh and Tom will figure it out.” Belichick was right in 2018. He was terribly wrong in ’19. In Brady’s mind, 2020 wasn’t going to be all that different. Here’s where Brady is wrong. All of this was not some vendetta against him. It was not all designed at pushing Brady out the door and making him expendable. It was just … football under Belichick. Same as it’s always been. The Patriots didn’t become a run-based team to become less Tom-centric. They did it because, as always, that played to the strength of the team. You can’t throw it 50 times a game with players who can’t beat anyone in man coverage. You can’t scheme players open by going to shotgun empty — you need the run and playaction to make it work. McDaniels was “no longer Brady’s best buddy and became more aligned with Belichick” because McDaniels works at the pleasure of the head coach, and that’s the way it has always been. If Belichick says to run it twice on 3rd and 6 at the opponent’s 40, McDaniels has to run it twice. While McDaniels installs each gameplan, Belichick gives notes to each side of the ball on how best to attack that week’s opponent based on the Patriots’ personnel. The Patriots’ offensive plan has to fit in the overall attack plan for that week’s opponent. Were the Patriots more conservative on offense the past two seasons? Of course they were. Not to phase out Brady, but because that’s what the personnel — misfires on offense while the defense became strong — dictated. Not all that dissimilar to the Patriots’ first dynasty. The Patriots took a hit on their coaching staff because, with three Super Bowl wins in six years, their coaches were getting better opportunities and raided like never before. Did Belichick give the offense inexperienced coaches to stick it to Brady? No, Belichick has always preferred to coach up young coaches. In case Brady didn’t notice, the defense was in the same boat with Bret Bielema, DeMarcus Covington and Mike Pellegrino. In short, Patriots business was being done as Patriots business has always been done. The only difference? You had an aging quarterback, obsessed with not having Belichick call the final play of Brady’s Patriots career, pushed to his limit because he was only offered year-to-year contracts. All this other stuff is nonsense. But it makes sense. Brady is an all-time great quarterback. It always ends badly for them, and it’s always someone else’s fault. ____________________________ NICKEL PACKAGE 1. Congratulations to Richard Seymour for his election into the Patriots Hall of Fame. While Bill Parcells should definitely be in for what he did for this franchise, Seymour was just a spectacular player at a crucial position for Belichick’s defense. Count Seymour as one who learned that it’s business and never personal with Belichick. “At the end of the day, the amount of respect I had for Coach Belichick and still have to this day – there’s a difference between business and your personal life. Personally, it was always a ton of respect,” Seymour told reporters. “Coach Belichick, he would always send a Christmas gift to the kids and little things like that. In terms of the business side of it, I mean, that’s just the business side of the NFL. We saw that this year with all their guys. So, that’s a part of it. I don’t have any hard feelings or anything like that. That’s just a part of the way the NFL works. So, it may have seemed like it was some tension or something, but in my mind, it’s no hard feelings. We talk and we see each other. He’ll shoot me a text. I was down there when the team was here in Atlanta for the Super Bowl. I was with the team. So, all is well. ” 2. The Patriots haven’t had much success as far as receiver reclamation projects in recent year, but Marqise Lee could be an exception because he’s largely a year removed from his knee and shoulder injuries in Jacksonville. “It’s been quite difficult with the knee injury and coming back with the shoulder injury,” Lee said this week to reporters. “It’s been difficult, but it’s been a task in which I’ve quite enjoyed as far as knowing myself. After these certain injuries, you’ve got some people who get down on themselves and tend to want to shut it down. For me, it’s kind of like a motivating factor. I just want to see where I’m at at this point. It will be good to get out there and play football, which I feel like I haven’t played in the last couple years. I’m just ready to get at it.” 3. Lee had some overlap with new Patriots assistant QB coach Jedd Fisch in Jacksonville. “Coach Jedd was a great, great coach down in Jacksonville for me as far as when I first got there, just teaching me the things I need to be as far as a player,” Lee said. “Even when he left, he stayed in communication, just making sure I stayed on top of things for the first couple years. It’s kind of motivating for me or a little helpful for me to actually know that he was on the team. It gave me a little relief not going to a team and not knowing everybody. At least I had the opportunity know somebody. I haven’t really gotten the chance to really communicate because of the coronavirus or things like that, but I’ve been hopping on Zoom with him a couple times throughout the group, spoke to him, things like that and he just gave me some tips as far as helping me as I’m going through it.” 4. I was somewhat excited to hear that the NFL was floating a plan to incentivize the hiring of minority head coaches and GMs. But a few spots in the third round? Really? Talk about throwing the bare minimum at the problem. If you really want to make NFL teams seriously consider more minority candidates — which is really the aim of the program — float moving a few spots in first round. 5. Knowing Aaron Rodgers a bit, I think he gave his real feelings on the drafting of Jordan Love and was realistic about the possible end of his Packers career (if Love is even a good player, which is far from a given) in his first comments to the media. Rodgers may be a bit of a diva and often overlooks his own responsibilities when the team struggles, but usually shoots you straight on his feelings.
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