Future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady chose to leave the New England Patriots because, after two decades, his situation became “a touch more boring,” according to the 42-year-old signal-caller’s father, Tom Brady Sr. The elder Brady made his comments in an interview on Thursday with Boston sports radio station WEEI .
After 20 seasons and winning six Super Bowls, Brady announced that he would leave the Patriots as a free agent on March 17. Three days later, reports revealed that Brady had signed a two-year, $60 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFC South.
Brady’s father told WEEI that his son would be “reinvigorated” by the move from New England to Florida’s Gulf Coast.
“Now that he’s moved on, it is kind of fun,” Brady Sr. said in the radio interview. “We get to see some different sides of the world. We don’t get down to Florida very often.”
In the interview, Brady Sr. said that he would not characterize his son’s split with Patriots Coach Bill Belichick — the only head coach Brady has ever played for in the professional ranks — as a “divorce,” saying that Brady Jr. considers Belichick “the greatest coach in the history of football.”
“Divorce sounds a little bit harsh. It is a separation,” Brady Sr. said. “It is OK to take different paths.”
But Brady Sr. told the station that his son was attracted to Tampa Bay by the team’s coach, Bruce Arians, who has never guided a team to a Super Bowl victory. Additionally, Arians has only coached in three postseason games, winning one and losing two.
The Tampa region’s warm weather and his desire to remain on the East Coast also contributed to Brady’s decision, according to his father.
One of Brady’s boyhood idols, Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, who won four Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s, said on Thursday that he was perplexed as to how New England allowed Brady to depart. Montana himself finished his career with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993 and 1994.
“I still don’t understand how New England let him get away. I don’t understand that,” Montana told USA Today .
Montana added that he departed the 49ers only when the team made it clear that it had no intention of retaining him.
But Brady “obviously, they never would have gotten rid of,” Montana said, referring to the Patriots desire to keep Brady on the team.
