Photo: Robin Marchant
Tom Brady has said he believes it's possible he'll play football at age 50 and his longtime former coach seems to agree.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick fielded questions about his quarterback of 20 years ahead of their highly anticipated first-ever matchup as opponents on Sunday.
Belichick opened his Wednesday (September 29) morning press conference by jokingly asking reporters, "Got any stories this week?" while smiling upon arrival before praising Brady, now in his second season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Nothing Tom does surprises me," Belichick said via ESPN. "He's a great player, works hard, takes care of himself. He's talked about playing until 50. If anybody can do it, he probably can.
"Tom's had an unbelievable career. There's not enough superlatives and adjectives to compliment him on everything that he's achieved and continues to achieve. It's unbelievably impressive."
Belichick also addressed questions about his relationship with the 44-year-old quarterback amid continued reports of a rift leading to Brady departing from New England after 20 seasons in March 2020.
"Yeah, I think it's good," Belichick said. "It's always been good."
The coach's comments come on the same day as an excerpt from ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham's upcoming book It's Better to be Feared on the Patriots' dynasty was shared by ESPN, which include information about the dynamic between Brady, Belichick, and Kraft leading up to the legendary quarterback's departure.
The excerpt showed that Brady decided to leave New England not only because both Belichick and Kraft refused to commit to him through his stated goal of playing through age 45, but also because he wanted to be part of an organization that listened to his ideas, rather than ignore them.
"Tom Brady had been curious if there was another way of winning, and while nobody was arguing that Bruce Arians was a better coach than Bill Belichick, or even close, the seamlessness of Brady's proficiency and performance was making his former coach's methodologies look antiquated, even silly," the book says. "It was better to be feared -- but was it necessary?"
You can read more about the upcoming book and excerpts released Wednesday on ESPN.com.
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