Something hasn’t been right for quite some time with Tom Brady and the Patriots. I’m tired of pretending it hasn’t. In fact, I never did. All last year, my friends and I noticed a vast separation growing between Tom Brady and Patriots fans.
Now Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is alluding to someone with a “conflict of interest” who helped him game-plan against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Seahawks players even said the game felt easy because of how prepared they were.
Here’s the key excerpt from the NBC Sports article:
> “…I knew what was going on,” Witherspoon told SiriusXM NFL Radio. “We had a good tell on what they like to do and how they like to play and how they were going to attack us. Coach put us in the best position to win. That’s our coach right there, that’s why we always stand beside him and always have his back.”
Witherspoon explained that film study showed the Patriots offensive linemen were tipping their hand with their alignment.
> “We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set. They’re going to overset on certain rushes. They’re going to fall for certain moves any time a group of guys gets after them. And today I think we did that.”
Patriots fans are now playing detective. Who with a conflict of interest could have helped the Seahawks beat us?
Some of you pointed to Bill Belichick. I’m ruling him out right away, and here’s why.
He already paid the price. We watched him miss out on first-ballot Hall of Fame induction. The Patriots let him go, and that documentary from our side didn’t exactly paint him in a flattering light. The bridges are burned. Why would he stay anonymous if he were the guy? Don’t you say HE is the egomaniac? Why wouldn’t he want to stroke his genius if this were truly him?
Actually, wouldn’t he have the most to gain by taking credit for helping topple the Patriots? It would be the ultimate revenge story. What would he have to lose? We can safely cross him off the list.
That leaves the name a lot of people are whispering: Tom Brady.
I know a lot of you hope this isn’t true. So do I. But I’m going to lay out the circumstantial case anyway.
I say this as one of Tom Brady’s biggest defenders online. There aren’t many people who have pushed back harder against the constant Brady criticism over the years than me. A spade, however, is a spade.
Tom Brady said this about his pick for the Seahawks-Patriots game: “I have no dog in this fight.”
On the surface, his defenders will say of course he doesn’t. He’s no longer a Patriot. He’s a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders now.
That’s true. But I wrote this back in February when he made that comment:
> “Asante Samuel, Vince Wilfork, and Robert Spillane have come out and said they’re pissed off at Tom Brady.
> That’s just the ones who have chosen to speak out.
> These aren’t NFL fans who have been triggered by Felger & Mazz propaganda. They have more invested than you and they’re personally offended.
> Why don’t you tell them it doesn’t matter?
> If you disagree you’re on the wrong side of history.
> They are right.”
Clearly it mattered to them. There would have been zero downside to cracking a joke about always being a Patriot. Nobody would have looked at his part-time Raiders ownership and accused him of violating the spirit of competition. Instead he chose the most neutral, detached answer possible. I’m sorry, but that’s an odd thing to say.
Really? One of these teams built a statue of him. They let him open a TB12 store on their property. Their fans defended him relentlessly for decades. No dog in the fight? The place where he became the greatest quarterback in NFL history? The place where he built two dynasties?
Even the people defending him right now are proving my point.
“He’s a Raiders owner!” So he now owns a team whose fanbase hates him? That was a conscious choice. He wasn’t drafted to be a Raiders owner. That tells you everything.
Remember all those Tuck Rule arguments we had for years? We defended him when it mattered. Some of us defended him long after he stopped being a Patriot. That’s what upset guys like Vince Wilfork and me. Real loyalty doesn’t do lukewarm. It’s either hot or cold. Brady has been cold toward the Patriots.
But that’s not all. It gets worse.
Did you know Tom Brady follows the Buccaneers on Instagram but not the Patriots?
Did you know his profile header is still him in a Bucs uniform?
Interesting.
Let’s not forget when he had the chance to back Drake Maye in the MVP conversation, he picked Matt Stafford instead. He praised Maye’s coaches and teammates but gave him little love. For Stafford, he had all the praise. No such conversations about his surroundings. That was a backhanded compliment if I’ve ever seen one.
Yes, I’m suggesting Maye’s success may have bothered Brady just a little. I can’t believe longtime fans would expect anything different from the most competitive quarterback who ever lived.
I’ll remind you of the story about young Tom Brady. Drew Bledsoe invited him to a party and they rode together in Bledsoe’s limo. When they arrived, Brady cornered the driver and grilled him about Bledsoe’s entire routine. When he ate. When he lifted. His full schedule. Brady wanted every possible edge. That’s what made him great. That’s who he was.
Never forget he once emailed a family member saying Peyton Manning was finished and that he himself still had seven or eight good years left. Legacy and winning were always on his mind. I get it. THIS IS WHAT MADE HIM GREAT!
Drake Maye is 23, playing at an All-Pro level, and was marching toward a Super Bowl. When Brady was 23 he was riding the bench. You don’t think the ultimate competitor in him is constantly measuring himself against Maye right now?
Give me a break.
Then there’s this: After the Super Bowl, Mike Macdonald said Tom Brady texted him to congratulate him. Macdonald also noted he doesn’t have that kind of relationship with Bill Belichick.
Hmm.
I think we’ve laid out a pretty clear motive for why Brady might have wanted to help dethrone Drake Maye and the Patriots. If it’s true, it’s a complete betrayal.
For me, the evidence already feels like a betrayal on its face.
You’re a Raiders owner? No dog in the fight? Taking little shots at Drake all season?
“Tom Brady owes you nothing!”
I couldn’t agree more. The feeling is mutual.
We defended Brady further than we probably should have. I did it even when he was wearing those creamsicle jerseys, much to the horror of some of my friends. Tom Brady is still my guy. He always will be. But I’m not going out of my way to defend him anymore, the same way he didn’t go out of his way to defend Drake.
Raiders fans can handle the Chiefs slander now. Let them defend him from Mahomes Stans. Our shift is over. Sorry, no dog in the fight.
Did Tom Brady help the Seahawks beat the Patriots? Did he truly betray us? I’ll let you decide.
I will say this though: he’s already betrayed the relationship we thought we had.
These conversations hurt. They really do. But there’s a silver lining shining brighter than the condensation on our ice-cold Mug Root Beers. His name is Drake Maye. The Patriots’ future is bright, and that chapter is closed.
Friends, we move. We must.
As always, thank you for sharing, liking, reposting, and commenting. I love you all.
Let’s GOOO (and maybe cry a little).