Last night Tom Brady released his first “Let’s Go!” podcast since retiring last week and it was filled with special guests and emotional moments. No part was more impactful than the appearance of Brady’s former coach Bill Belichick.
Here are some highlights of the conversation between the greatest coach/ quarterback tandem in NFL history:
Belichick’s opening statement: “Tom’s just had a tremendous career. I was out at the East-West game last weekend and of course Tom’s picture is everywhere as a player in the game along with a lot of other Hall of Famers. I think they had 70 Hall of Famers play in that game or something like that, but anyway that’s kind of where it all started: Michigan, Orange Bowl, East-West game and it’s just…the greatest player, the greatest career, a great, great person. It was such an opportunity and honor for me to coach Tom and I guess its gotta end at some point, but it’s the greatest one ever. Congratulations, Tom.”
A nice opening statement from Belichick, which set aside some of the persistent reports about tension between the two. Things did not end in New England as well as anyone wanted, but Belichick clearly has respect and appreciation for all the two accomplished over two decades together.
Brady on Belichick: “Who’s going to turn you into something? Who’s going to develop you? Who’s going to take you under their wing? Sometimes it’s a player that does that and I definitely had a lot of players do that and obviously I had someone that really saw something in me that not a lot of other people did. There were offensive coaches, but I think Coach Belichick and I developed an amazing relationship really from the moment I was drafted.”
“For me, there’s nobody I’d rather be associated with. From my standpoint, I think it’s always a stupid conversation to say, ‘Brady vs. Belichick’ because, in my mind, that’s not what a partnership is about.”
These quotes were some of the most emotional of the podcast, with Brady showing appreciation for Belichick as well as reflecting on all they had accomplished and how far they came together. There’s was the greatest partnership in the history of football and one of the best in the history of sports.
Belichick on what he noticed about Brady in college: “The way he played well in big games and big moments you could see the upswing and the potential that he had. His rookie year, Tom didn’t play much, three snaps or whatever it was, but he took leadership over that rookie class.”
Belichick also called starting Brady over Bledsoe midway through the 2001 season the “Smartest decision I ever made.”
The Super Bowl victories will be what everyone remembers, but hearing how Brady and Belichick initially came together was fascinating. Without that, the partnership would never have been able to take off. Credit to Belichick for making the controversial decision in 2001 to stick with Brady and credit to Brady for making that decision look like the smartest one in football history.