Wes Welker knows what makes Tom Brady tick.
If the receiver didn’t, he wouldn’t have caught 815 passes from the quarterback. They had an almost-telepathic connection. So perhaps Welker had some insight on why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appealed to Brady in ways that the New England Patriots did not.
“I think he’s just excited to play football,” he said on WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show” this week. “Tom wants to play ball. I think for him he’s excited — he has some weapons down there in Tampa. I think he’s excited to get out there and play ball. It’s another challenge for him in his mind, I’m sure, of proving people wrong — that he doesn’t have to be in New England to be great.
“He will take on that challenge, and I guaranteed you he will be full steam ahead with it.”
Was Welker surprised to see Brady leave?
“Not necessarily,” Welker told WEEI. “You hate to see it just because he’s been there for so long and it is going to be strange to see him in a different uniform and all those different things, but I wouldn’t say I was surprised.”
Brady announced he was leaving the Patriots, and decided to join the Buccaneers a few days later. While New England boasted just Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu and N’Keal Harry, Tampa had a much more talented group of offensive players, with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate. Surely that group — and coach Bruce Arians — played a big part in luring Brady to the Bucs.
