Tom Brady wants to stop the “nonsense.”
He is a Tampa Bay Buccaneer for a number of reasons. And, apparently, the status of Brady’s relationship with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is not one of them. After the New York Daily News’ Gary Meyers reported Brady defected from New England in part due to his deteriorating friendship with McDaniels, Brady set the record straight on his Instagram story on Monday night.
“Please stop this nonsense!” Brady wrote. “Please be more responsible with reporting … 19 years together and brothers for life.”
While there is no shortage of reporting and speculation which points to Brady’s frayed relationship with coach Bill Belichick, Brady and McDaniels seemed to be on good terms. Meyers’ report is the first indication to the contrary.
Since Meyers’ report and Brady’s refuting of it, WCVB-TV’s Chris Gasper has confirmed “the professional/personal relationship between Brady and McDaniels was more strained than publicly portrayed.” The tension, according to both reports, was about the weekly game plan. Brady was frustrated he wasn’t getting enough input into which plays were installed on a weekly basis. The quarterback felt he was getting phased out, per Gasper.
It’s easy to take Brady’s slamming of the reporting at face value, in part because Brady and McDaniels have a long-standing friendship. McDaniels has beamed over Brady for years, and Brady seemed to play a part in convincing McDaniels not to take the Indianapolis Colts coaching job in 2018. But it’s also easy to imagine Brady publicly refuting the report, even if it harbors some truth, because he doesn’t want to further damage his relationship with his friend.
Regardless, Brady is no longer under Belichick’s thumb, and seems more open to expressing his mind — which should be interesting.
