Tom Brady is returning to New England on Sunday to face the Patriots and he’s being forced to answer several awkward questions about his relationship with former coach Bill Belichick.
Earlier this week, ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, who is releasing a book about the Patriots, revealed that Belichick refused to meet Brady to say goodbye, and instead the two spoke over the phone when the QB announced he was leaving to play in Tampa Bay.
Via ESPN
In the end, Tom Brady just wanted to say goodbye — in person — to his longtime coach. But according to a new book to be published next month, Bill Belichick said he wasn’t available and insisted the two New England Patriots legends talk on the phone.
Even though Belichick told Brady that he was “the best player the league had ever seen,” Brady told a friend the fact it came over the phone was “telling” about how badly the duo’s relationship had deteriorated over the years.
During the Bucs media day on Thursday, Brady was asked about Wickersham’s report and he confirmed that he didn’t meet with Belichick in person when he left but felt the situation was handled well by the Patriots at the time.
Video: Tom Brady says his goodbye with Bill Belichick wasn’t in person but he thought it was handled well by all involved as he left the Patriots. pic.twitter.com/7ibaQWrejG
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 30, 2021
“All those things are super personal, we had a great relationship, everything was handled the right way.we handled as gracefully as we could… It was handled perfectly I think everyone understood where we were at…Things worked out for the best for all of us.”
Belichick went on to deny Wickersham’s reporting while speaking to the media.
“No, that’s not true,” “I heard a few things about you know this book and it sounds like it’s a lot of second, third, fourth hand comments so. But I’m not gonna get into that. I’m going to focus on this game.”