Tom Brady is set to return to Gillette Stadium next week for the first time since he left the Patriots to join the Buccaneers. What is sure to be the highlight game for the NFL’s Week 4 is also sure to be an emotional return for Brady, who spent 20 years in New England and won six Super Bowls before heading south in the 2020 offseason.
Brady’s father, Tom Brady Sr., joined “Tom Curran’s Patriots Talk Podcast” on Tuesday to discuss the impending return. When asked by Curran if the Brady family feels “vindicated” and if they made the right decision, Brady Sr. gave it to him straight.
“Damn right,” Brady Sr. said. “[Bill] Belichick wanted him out the door and last year he threw 56 touchdowns (it was actually 50, including playoffs). I think that’s a pretty good year.”
Brady tested the free agency waters for the first time after the 2019 season, after he negotiated his last contract extension in New England to have an out before 2020 in case he wanted to play elsewhere. Curran reported after Brady signed with Tampa Bay that “a tangible effort by the Patriots to keep Tom Brady in New England never happened,” supporting Brady Sr.’s theory that the team wanted him gone.
Tom Brady during the Bucs’ preseason game against the Titans.Getty ImagesThe rest is history, and Brady went on to win a Super Bowl with the Bucs in his first season. In the process, he became the oldest quarterback in NFL history to win a championship, and extended his own record of most championships by a player with seven.
That said, it still doesn’t appear there is any bad blood between the two sides.
“Tommy is extraordinarily appreciative of everything that happened during his New England career, and he’s more than happy that he’s moved on because it was pretty obvious that the Patriot regime felt that it was time for him to move on,” Brady Sr. said. “And frankly, it may well have been perfect for (Bill) Belichick to move on from him. On the other hand, I think the Tampa Bay Bucs are pretty happy that the decision was made in Foxboro that they didn’t want to afford him or didn’t want to keep him when his last contract came up.
“[It will be] very nostalgic [to return to New England]. That was our home for 20 years. The fans embraced Tommy, the city embraced Tommy and the team embraced Tommy for a while. And so, when he comes home it’s gonna be a real treat that he spent 20 years making his mark in Boston. We owe a lot to the Patriots and a lot to Boston.”
