Even after all their years of success together, Tom Brady did not receive preferential treatment from Bill Belichick.
Now we have an explanation as to why.
Belichick joined Tom Brady’s SiriusXM podcast, “Let’s Go,” and revealed that he was mimicking the way Bob Knight tore into Michael Jordan during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“That was as much a part of Tom as it was me,” Belichick explained, as covered by Mass Live. “There were a couple meetings where I would say something to Tom after the meeting. Like, ‘Hey, I didn’t really think that was that bad, but I just wanted to include you in there with everyone else.’
“Tom would say, ‘Coach, you have to. If you don’t yell at me, then what am I going to do with all the rest of my teammates? I’ve gotta be in there with all the rest of them and say, ‘Hey, he’s yelling at all of us and we’ve all gotta do better.’ But if you leave me out of it, then I don’t really have a platform to work from. So yeah, go ahead and rip my ass, too. Go ahead.’ I got the green light on that, so I went ahead and took it.”
Bill Belichick explained that he rode Tom Brady’s ass in a tactic he learned from Bob Knight and Michael Jordan.Getty Images
Tom Brady (12) and Bill Belichick with the Patriots in 2017.Getty ImagesBrady and Belichick ultimately won six Super Bowl championships together on the Patriots. The psychology had an impact on the rest of the team.
“Players, they’d always come back to me and say, ‘Hey, the first meeting Belichick got on Brady. I’m like, Christ, if he’s going to talk to Brady like that I’d better be straight. I know what’s going to happen to me,’” Belichick said.
Just like the NFL is a copycat league, great coaches have been known to borrow elements from each other across sports. Belichick explained that riding Brady was a tactic he absorbed from Knight, the longtime former Indiana basketball coach.
Michael Jordan playing during the 1984 Olympics.Getty Images
The U.S. men’s basketball team carries Bob Knight after winning the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics.Corbis via Getty Images
(From L to R): Ahmad Rashad, Michael Jordan, Dean Smith and Bob Knight in 1994.Getty Images “Where I got that from was Coach Knight, because Coach Knight told me that’s what he did with Michael Jordan on the Olympic team,” Belichick continued. “He said, ‘Michael, I’m going to rip your (expletive) because I can’t rip some of those other guys without ripping you.’ Jordan said, ‘Bring it on, because I need that and it’ll help me with my teammates.’”
Brady would go on to play three seasons in Tampa Bay after leaving New England, winning his seventh Super Bowl in his first year with the Bucs. Last week, he announced his retirement from the NFL after 23 seasons in professional football.
Brady had been slated to join the top Fox Sports NFL announce team upon retirement, but announced on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd on Monday that he will be taking a gap year, and will join the broadcast booth in 2024.
