Brady disputes Patriots friction
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has denied a tense undercurrent surrounding the team, described by anonymous teammates and staff members in a recent ESPN Magazine story.
The story questioned whether Brady, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft were in their last season together.
Speaking to WEEI’s Kirk and Callahan Show in his weekly appearance Tuesday, Brady mainly disputed what he deemed “poor characterization” of himself acting gleeful and “liberated” once backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was traded to the San Francisco 49ers earlier this National Football League season.
According to the ESPN report, Brady wanted Garoppolo traded while Belichick was left “furious and demoralized” after obliging Kraft’s wishes on the trade.
“In 18 years, I’ve never celebrated when someone has been traded, been cut,” Brady said. “I think I’m very empathetic toward other people’s experiences . ... I would never, ever feel that way about when Jimmy got traded. I’ve felt like I had such a great relationship with all the quarterbacks I’ve worked with. I kept in touch with basically everybody. So to characterize that as a certain way is just completely, completely wrong.”
Shortly after the story ran last week, Brady, Belichick and Kraft issued a joint statement in which they described “unsubstantiated, highly exaggerated and flat out inaccurate” reporting.
Although Brady noted Tuesday that he hadn’t read the entire ESPN story, he said he “got most of it,” and added additional perspective to the report. “Everyone has different truths,” Brady said. “When you talk about the way I see things, the way you guys see things, the way the writer may see things, the way Coach Belichick may see things — everyone has different truths based on their perspectives. I feel like I go about my business like I have every year, and again, I like to speak for myself, because that’s how — I don’t want to speak on someone else’s behalf or what their experiences are. I try to do the best I can do, like I’ve always done.”
Brady also shot down the report that his TB12 Sports Therapy Center initially denied Garoppolo treatment for his shoulder.
“It is so far from any truth that I know or any characterization of my relationship with my teammates,” he said. “I have never denied anybody anything in regards to TB12. I have always found it very flattering when teammates go there. Again, I think this speaks to someone, whether it is the writer himself, or whoever he spoke to, what agenda they might have in painting some type of picture.”