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I think I may have figured out why there always seems to be so much drama surrounding the New England Patriots lately. (1) The team has been so good for so long that the guys who have been around the longest don’t give a flip if people read into things they say because they know at the end of the day they will still be one of the best teams in the NFL. And (2) they win so much they’re bored. Stirring the pot gives them some ammunition and motivation to continue to dominate.
Of course, I could be way off, but how else do you explain Tom Brady, after all that’s been reported this offseason, continuing to napalm the Patriots’ coaches over their controversial benching of Malcolm Butler during Super Bowl LII?
During an hour-long interview with Jim Gray at the Milken Institute Global Conference this week, Brady was asked once again about the Butler benching, and once again it appears that Brady really DGAF what he says about it, reports MassLive.
Gray: “Let’s go back to the Super Bowl. Do you know why Malcolm Butler didn’t play?”
Brady: “Well, I don’t make those decisions. I wish he would’ve played, but the coach didn’t play him and we still had a chance to win.”
Gray: “Do you know why he didn’t play?”
Brady: “No, I haven’t gone and discussed those things. Do you know why he didn’t play? Would you like to tell me?”
Gray: “I don’t have the access that you do.”
Brady: “Yeah, well I don’t ask, so…”
Gray: “Do you believe that the fans deserve an explanation? The guy played 98 percent of the plays during the regular season and all of a sudden he’s standing there crying during the national anthem. Do you believe the people who pay for the game, who have watched the game, who have invested their time and money should have an explanation?”
Brady: “Well, I don’t know. That’s probably a better question for the guy who owns our team. I think, for me, you don’t make all the decisions. I can control what I can control. So much of what it’s been over the years has been, ‘How do I maximize what I can do?’ I can’t run, I can’t catch, I can’t block, I can’t tackle. I can do my job and I’m going to do it the best way I can. I’ve got to trust everyone else to do the same thing. Sometimes it works out, and for our team it’s worked out better than every other team for a long time, so how do you nitpick one or two things? Everyone is trying, in my belief, to do the best thing. It doesn’t always work out. I love that particular player — Malcolm. I have a great relationship and history with him. And he’s moved on with his life, he’s on a different team.”
That he is, and still no one seems to know why he was benched. After all, he played in the NFC Championship.
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“I’ll say this: For a team, this side of the room is the offense and this side is the defense,” Brady said. “We don’t interfere with them much. I didn’t know. Malcolm kept coming over to me during the game and was like ‘Come on, TB, let’s go!’ And I kept going, ‘What defense are we in where Malcolm’s not on the field?’ Is it short-yardage, goal line? And then after the game, I found out. So I just didn’t know. And I asked Malcolm and Malcolm said, ‘I don’t know. Coach has just decided something different.’ I said, ‘OK.’ So I don’t know what was a part of that decision-making, but I know we were trying to win the game. I don’t think we were trying to do anything but win.”
“It’s unfortunate we lost,” Brady said, “but give the Eagles a great deal of credit. They deserved it, and we’ll be back next year trying to kick their butt.”
So Brady didn’t even realize Malcolm Butler was benched until after Super Bowl LII. Bet that went over well with TB12.
Check out the rest of the lengthy interview below, including the parts where Brady goes into full snake oil salesmen mode for his TB12 Method.
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