Tom Brady is rumored to be leading a Bill Belichick culture "pushback" within the New England Patriots in a reported power struggle between the the quarterback and the coach, two of the most powerful figures in the NFL, NBC Sports reported.
The Patriots had won five Super Bowls, with Brady as quarterback and with Belichick calling the shots from the sidelines, but the team failed to defend its title in February with a Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
NBC Sports columnist Tom Curran claims that player discontent over Belichick's hard-driving coaching style – one that has led to Patriots to unparalleled success in the NFL – has been spurned by the superstar quarterback.
"The pushback now is being led by Brady," Curran said on Monday. "And it's not about one thing, it's about everything. It's about the culture. A culture we've all celebrated for nearly two decades as being the reason the Patriots from 2001 through 2019 will be the standard by which all American sports dynasties are measured.”
"But when the player whose buy-in is most important – Brady – begins an open revolt, then what?" Curran asked.
Danny Amendola, one of Brady's favorite receivers, spoke out against Belichick to ESPN after he became a free agent and signed with the Miami Dolphins during this off-season.
"I came in with an open mind. I understand Bill [Belichick] runs a tight ship, and he hasn't been known to pay his players, really," Amendola told ESPN. "I understood that I gave money back to him so I could play for him and play for my teammates and fulfill my side of the contract, and at the end of the day, I had faith that he was going to give me an opportunity to stay.”
"When free agency broke, I came to the realization that he wasn't going to really come close to any of the other offers I had. I had to make a decision for my family and go down to Miami and continue my career there."
Curran went on to tell Mike Florio with NBC Sports ProFootballTalk podcast the drafting of Jimmy Garoppolo in 2014, who was widely seen as Brady's future replacement, and Garoppolo's eventual trade to the San Francisco 49ers last season continues to have ripple effects within the Patriots organization, per NESN.
"When that (drafting Garoppolo) happened and Bill Belichick, on the night of the draft said, 'we all understand Tom's age and contract situation,'" Curran said on ProFootballTalk. "That was ringing the alarm that Tom is on borrowed time, this is his successor. And what that did was, it lit an immense fire under Brady who was already a tremendous player …"
Questions about the frayed relationship between Brady, Belichick and even owner Robert Kraft bubbled over in an ESPN article before the February's Super Bowl, which openly wondered if this would be the last for either Brady or Belichick in New England.
That article also touched on the Garoppolo draft and trade, something that Belichick was against, along with the banishment of Brady's body coach and business partner Alex Guerrero from the Patriot facilities earlier, something the coach favored.
"Both Brady and Belichick have redefined how much influence a coach and quarterback can have on a team game," January's ESPN article said. "But this year has shown that the legacy of football's greatest coach, like the game itself, is beyond his control."
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