The relationship between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick unraveled by the end of the 2019 season. That was clear when the quarterback opted to leave New England to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that offseason.
Unbeknown to most, the Brady-Belichick relationship had issues years prior and was rapidly following apart after the 2014 season.
In episodes seven and eight of the TV+ show, ‘The Dynasty: New England Patriots,’ the relationship between Brady and Belichick is explored. These chapters are titled ‘Under Pressure’ and ‘Score to Settle’ and viewers hear from Patriots players on how much Brady felt disrespected by his head coach.
These episodes dive into the Patriots championship runs during the 2014 and 2016 seasons. It’s clear that the relationship between the team’s starting quarterback and head coach wasn’t in a great place after this.
Here are the main takeaways:
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Belichick was ready to move on from Brady
Episode eight gets into the decline of Belichick and Brady’s relationship. This started when the Patriots drafted Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round in 2014.
“Age is age,” Belichick said.
Kraft said Belichick used to show him stats depicting that Brady’s throws over 20 yards had him ranked last in the NFL.
“I think Bill thought Tommy was starting to lose it,” Kraft said. “Bill said, ‘We have to be ready to move on.’”
This was happening after Belichick drafted Garoppolo and then Brady was suspended for the first four games in the 2016 season.
“I think it was a turning point in their overall relationship dynamic,” Kraft said.
Danny Amendola said Brady was also angry about his 2016 suspension and increased questions about his age. Brady noted he came from that suspension looking for revenge.
“You could tell he was (expletive) angry,” Amendola said. “We were like, the king is back. Here he goes.”
Brady and Belichick’s relationship changed
As the 2016 season went on, players said that Brady was increasingly upset over how he was being treated by Belichick.
“Do I think Tom felt disrespected? Yeah, I think so,” Matthew Slater said about Belichick.
This episode featured multiple players talking about how Belichick treated Brady. It comes out that the Patriots coach had routinely berated his quarterback. Wes Welker said he told Brady he was an abused dog.
“Tail between your legs and you just keep coming back,” Welker said.
Kraft revealed that he and Brady had several talks on how Belichick treated him. The quarterback used to vent to the owner about his coach.
“He was always looking for Bill’s approval – almost in a father-son kind of way,” Kraft said. “It’s not Bill’s style ever to give that.”
White House pressured Robert Kraft
Episode seven starts with businessman Rupert Murdoch talking about going to Russia with Robert Kraft to meet Vladimir Putin in 2005.
Kraft explains that the Russian president wanted to see his Super Bowl ring.
“I pull the ring out of my pocket and I gave it to him,” Kraft said. “He put it on, looked at me, and said, ‘I could kill someone with this ring.’… He took the ring off, put my hand out and he took the ring, put it in a side pocket, three KGB come around him and he’s off.”
Kraft never got his ring back and smirked before saying, “Let’s just say somehow the story wound up in the New York Post.”
The Patriots owner went on to reveal that the White House asked him to give Putin the ring as a gift to help US relations.
Brady cried over DeflateGate
The rest of the episode gets into DeflateGate at the end of the 2014 season. The Colts admit they were tipped off about Patriots footballs being underinflated and how the defense wanted to get a turnover to see if the rumors were true.
That happened when D’Qwell Jackson intercepted Brady and the NFL quickly started their investigation.
Kraft admitted that Brady didn’t handle the press conference well. Darelle Revis then said that Brady stood up in a team meeting, cried, and told his teammates he didn’t do it. Brady’s parents said they were crushed by the reports and rumors.
Brady was asked if he had an additional comment on the Wells Report, investigation and replied, “No.”
Players were growing tired in 2016
Before beating the Atlanta Falcons in the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, players said they were growing tired of Belichick.
In episode eight, we get a view of Belichick criticizing his players after they defeated the Houston Texans, 34-16, in the AFC divisional round.
“It seemed at times with Belichick it felt like we lost the game even though we won. It was brutal,” Slater said. “Not only was he critical of every player in there but he was extremely critical of Tom.”
The players went into Super Bowl LI looking to win for their quarterback. Brady was 39 at the time and still upset over questions about his age and his four-game suspension.
“We worked for Bill but we played for Tom,” Amendola said.
While Brady struggled at the start of that Super Bowl, he began to think about what critics would say about him after his pick-6 interception to Robert Alford.
“It’s in the back of your mind,” Brady said “If we lose this game, that’s all they’re going to want to talk about – me being washed up.”
As we all know, Brady completed the comeback for another Super Bowl championship.
