Photo: Eliot J. Schechter
Tom Brady's former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis believes the seven-time Super Bowl champion left the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers solely from a personnel standpoint -- and no, that doesn't mean Bill Belichick.
Weis was Brady's offensive coordinator during the quarterback's first four NFL seasons with the Patriots (2000-04) and coached alongside Belichick during stints in New England (2000-04) and the New York Jets (1997-99).
The former Notre Dame head football coach told NBC Boston's Tom E. Curran he had good relationships with both men and said he believes Brady opted to join the Buccaneers because of their offensive talent.
"I'm just saying that Tommy looked around and he found himself a place -- we can talk about how the different personalities of the head coaches and how they do things all we want -- but really at the end of the day is, it's the guys he's playing with," said Weis. "Because the coaching staff, no matter where he went, they would have kind of figured it out eventually. Eventually, they would have come to a meeting of the minds, that would happen no matter where he went. Okay, but very few teams that he was going to go to, had a stable of guys like that to be dealing with.
"I think Tom just went to a better situation offensively," Weis said. "I mean, he’s playing with better players. No disrespect. That's no disrespect to the guys in New England. But look at the talent that he's got around him. If I asked you right now, who's the number one receiver, could you give me one?"
For the record, Curran offered Jakobi Meyers and Weis quickly pointed out that, despite thinking Meyers is "pretty damn good," the "undrafted guy out of NC State" was "certainly not i the top two" among Tampa Bay's wide receiver group.
Last week, addressed his trainer Alex Guerrero's criticism that Belichick "never evolved" in how he treated the seven-time Super Bowl champion during their 20 seasons together.
"Everybody has protective feelings and emotions as friends and family members and that's just part of being in sports," Brady said during his weekly press conference Thursday (September 23), via the Buccaneers' official website. "You have a lot of people who, because they're not out there, they want to protect, and it's a very caring, loving thing that a lot of people do, but from my standpoint, I had a great time [in New England], but really, my focus has been trying to be the best I can be for this team, trying to go out and be a winning quarterback, to be a championship-level quarterback for this team and this organization because they certainly deserve it. I made a commitment to them and I want to live up to it."
During an interview with the Boston Herald last Wednesday (September 22), Guerrero said Belichick's "emotions or feeling never evolved with age" when discussing Brady's departure from the team during the 2020 offseason.
"As Tom got into his late 30s or early 40s, I think Bill was still trying to treat him like that 20-year-old kid that he drafted," Guerrero said. And all the players, I think, realized Tom was different. He's older, so he should be treated differently. And all the players, none of them would have cared that he was treated differently.
"I think that was such a Bill thing. He never evolved. So you can't treat someone who's in his 40s like they're 20. It doesn't work."
Guerrero's comments came 11 days before Brady's long-awaited return to Foxborough when his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, face the Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 3.
Brady's father, Tom Brady Sr. discussed the upcoming Sunday Night Football matchup with Curran for NBC Sports Boston and said his son felt vindicated winning his seventh Super Bowl as a member of the Buccaneers in February after the New England opted to allow him to test free agency in March 2020 after 20 seasons with the team, even acknowledging a reported rift between the quarterback and Belichick.
“Damn right,” Brady Sr. said ahead of his son's upcoming return to Gillette Stadium on October 3. “Damn rights. Belichick wanted him out the door, and last year he threw [50] touchdowns. I think that’s a pretty good year.”
Though people close to the Brady may be addressing a possible rift with Belichick, the quarterback spoke highly of his former organization.
"I have great respect and admiration for my time [with the Patriots]," Brady said Thursday. "I had 20 great years there. I kind of spoke that the last 18 months. It was a great time in my life, but I'm really happy to be here and I think we've done some great things in a short period of time. I really love the teammates that I have that I'm playing with here. I love the coaches, the organization's been amazing. Again, it's just a lot of gratitude for me."
Brady finished Sunday's (September 26) 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Rams with 432 yards and a touchdown on 41 of 55 passing, putting his career mark at 80,291 passing yards, just 67 yards short of Drew Brees' NFL record 80,358.
It's almost certain that Brady will now break the record when he faces the New England Patriots -- his team for the first 20 years of his NFL career -- for the first time during the Week 4 Sunday Night Football matchup at Gillette Stadium on October 3.
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