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- Tom Brady officially retired on Tuesday morning.
- Immediately after his announcement, his two head coaches offered very different responses.
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After much speculation over the weekend, Tom Brady has officially retired from the NFL after 22 years in the league. The 44-year-old will go down in history as the greatest of all-time, the only player to win a NFL title in three different decades and the only starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises in each conference.
Those two teams, of course, were the Buccaneers and the Patriots.
In Brady’s retirement post, he did not mention anything about the Patriots. It was kind of bizarre and NFL fans were upset.
However, the street goes two ways.
Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians and New England head coach Bill Belichick had very different statements about Brady’s retirement. Immediately after TB12’s official announcement, both organizations released their thoughts.
Here is the statement from Arians:
“Tom joined us as the greatest football player of all time, and he quickly showed everyone in our organization what that meant,” said Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians. “He set a standard and helped create a culture that took our team to the mountaintop. It has been an honor to be his head coach for the past two seasons. I wish it didn’t have to end, but few players have the opportunity to leave the game on their own terms. Even fewer can do it while playing at an elite level. Tom is the exception. I have a deep appreciation and respect for what he has done for our franchise, and I wish him and his family nothing but the best in this next chapter of life after football.”
Here is what Belichick had to say:
None. He said nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. The man who won six Super Bowls with Brady literally did not say a word.
Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, however, did release a statement:
“Words cannot describe the feelings I have for Tom Brady, nor adequately express the gratitude my family, the New England Patriots and our fans have for Tom for all he did during his career. A generation of football fans have grown up knowing only an NFL in which Tom Brady dominated. He retires with nearly every NFL career passing record, yet the only one that ever mattered to him was the team’s win-loss record. In his 20 years as a starter his teams qualified for the playoffs 19 times. He led his teams to 10 Super Bowls, winning an NFL-record seven championships. In a team sport like football, it is rare to see an individual have such a dominant impact on a team’s success. You didn’t have to be a Patriots fan to respect and appreciate his competitiveness, determination and will to win that fueled his success. As a fan of football, it was a privilege to watch. As a Patriots fan, it was a dream come true.
“I have the greatest respect for Tom personally and always will. His humility, coupled with his drive and ambition, truly made him special. I will always feel a close bond to him and will always consider him an extension of my immediate family.”