Perfect partnership
TOMBRADY, BILL BELICHICK SHARE AN OBSESSION WITH WINNING
Haunting darkened film rooms, huddling inside offices and meeting rooms and collaborating on the sideline, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and star quarterback Tom Brady have spent nearly two decades building one of the most successful partnerships in the history of the NFL and professional sports. Yet, Belichick and Brady have never broken bread together outside of the Patriots’ training facility. As cold and impersonal as that might sound, the strong relationship between the cerebral coach and the prolific, ultra focused quarterback with the supermodel wife transcends the simple act of hanging out together. It’s all about the work for these two workaholics. Their shared obsession with winning and chasing perfection defines their bond, one built on a growing pile of championship banners and accolades. Seventeen years after Belichick drafted Brady in the sixth round out of the University of Michigan, they’ve earned four Vince Lombardi trophies heading into Sunday’s Super Bowl LI matchup against the Atlanta Falcons at NRG Stadium. Belichick and Brady have been linked at the hip, grinding out season after season as the Patriots have constructed a dynasty despite a cast of surrounding characters that changes every year. They’re the constant presence in New England. And they’ve done it all with Belichick never granting special treatment or any being sought by Brady, a three- time league Most Valuable Player, two- time Super Bowl MVP and 12- time Pro Bowl selection. Brady wouldn’t have it any other way. Belichick and his assistant coaches get on Brady for interceptions, incompletions, busted reads or any other shortcomings. That sets the tone for the rest of the roster. Many times over the years, Belichick has told Brady that a quarterback from a local high school could have thrown a better pass than him after an errant throw. Players figure out quickly that if Brady is subject to the same demanding standards that they are, there’s absolutely no room for slackers at Patriot Place when it comes to taking care of assignments and having the proper work ethic. Patriots owner Robert Kraft has enjoyed a grand view of how Belichick and Brady have formed such a stellar tandem, the envy of other NFL organizations. “It’s been such a treat,” Kraft said. “Those of us who are fortunate enough to see people in the media, the Hollywood crowd, that on great sports teams there are personalities and egos. To have the drive, they’re very special people. Egos can get in the way. I’m very pleased theway they — and really our whole organization and team — checks those egos at the front door, no matter how big they are or how important they are. “They do what they have to do to put the team in the best position to win. I remember when I came into the league and I learned that when you have division from within, that’s the biggest enemy that gets in the way of winning. I can really say that these guys put team first all the way. No one gives excuses when things don’t go right. They’re all together as a unit.”
Four Super Bowl wins
In reaching seven Super Bowls and winning four of them, Brady and Belichick thrive in a serious, football purists’ environment devoted to trying to build strategies that confuse defenses and score points. Brady is seemingly ageless at 39, throwing 28 touchdowns and two interceptions in the regular season after being angered and embarrassed at having to serve a four- game NFL suspension for his role in the Deflategate controversy. Belichick, 64, still seeks out knowledge from various sports figures and is credited with plenty of innovations along the way. The venerable coach said this past week he has no plans to retire anytime soon. “He’s the best,” Brady said. “I’ve been very lucky to play for him. He’s so focused on coaching and doing anything he can to help us win. There’s no BS with Coach Belichick, and I think that’s what players appreciate. “When you come into the program you realize it’s all about football. It’s not a bunch of rah- rah crap that’s not going to matter and has no bearing on preparing you for a game, but it’s just coaches screaming louder and louder, thinking that’s going to emphasize some sort of point.” Both men are willing to laugh at themselves. Although neither is devoid of ego, they understand that they’re better collectively than apart. Brady has signed team- friendly contracts for years, taking less money to allow the Patriots greater flexibility in their salary cap to be able to bolster their roster. “We have always got along so well, and I think that the focus has always been on the team and doing what is best for this team,” Brady said. “Coach, he commits his life to coaching football and to coaching this team. I commit my life to playing football for this team and playing quarterback. It’s not a sacrifice because I love to do it. There are a lot of other things that I don’t get a chance to do that when I amdone playing I will get a chance to do. “Playing football is so important in my life and I love to do it. I know coach loves to coach and I love to play and I love playing for him, and I want to go out and win this game for not only him but all my coaches, teammates and all our fans.” Although he was a physically unimpressive rookie after a sluggish NFL scouting combine performance, Brady has never lacked for confidence. Whether that’s wooing supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen, acting in movies like “Ted 2” or an episode of
“Entourage” or firing spirals against the NFL’s top defenses, Brady always has felt like he belongs.
Brady once introduced himself to Kraft while carrying a pizza box during training camp. His brash message to the Patriots owner: “I’m the best decision this organization has ever made.”
And Brady was right. Idol Montana in sight
Of course, it took a huge hit on Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe for Brady to get his shot. Once he got the opportunity, Brady hasn’t relinquished his grip. He’s one Super Bowl win away from surpassing Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana, his childhood idol, for the most by a starting quarterback in NFL history.
Belichick and Brady are making an NFL-record seventh Super Bowl appearance together.
“I am fortunate to have the opportunity to coach Tom for these years,” Belichick said. “I have a lot of respect for him. There’s a mutual respect there. We each have a job to do. It’s very different. All the jobs are important, but we try to find a way to do our jobs and help the team win the best we can.
“Tom is a tremendous player. He is a tremendous competitor. He prepares extremely hard. He comes to work every day and gives his very best effort. He’s very smart and has a lot of experience. He’s able to put it all together better than any player that I’ve ever coached. He’s a great role model for all of us — any player and any coach.”
Brady is super competitive at everything from arriving first into work to lift weights and earning a choice parking spot or throwing footballs into a bucket at Friday practices. Throughout it all, Brady and Belichick have made each other stronger.
“If you didn’t have a guy like Tom who truly buys in and sets the tone, I think you would have a completely different atmosphere with the Patriots,” said former Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham, who earned three Super Bowl wins in six seasons in New England. “When your best player is your best teammate, the guy who follows the coaches’ lead and is the leader, you have a really good chance of relating to the entire locker room. Bill will get on Tom and Tom will take hard coaching. It’s not that way everywhere around the league.”
Belichick and Brady have 24 postseason wins together. That’s 10 more than the second-ranked coach-quarterback tandem of Chuck Noll and Bradshaw with the Pittsburgh Steelers during their heyday in the 1970s. The Pats pair has won six conference championships and 14 division titles.
“To me, he’s the greatest coach of all time, and there’s no other coach I’d ever want to play for,” Brady said. “He puts us in a great position to succeed. He’s a great motivator. He doesn’t take any days off, and he sets a great example for us about dependability, consistency. He brings it every day.”
With Sunday’s Super Bowl appearance, Belichick and Brady will have appeared together in three more than any other combination of coach and quarterback. Belichick is tied with Noll for the most Super Bowl wins.
Noll and Bradshaw were undefeated in four Super Bowls together while the Dallas Cowboys’ Tom Landry and Roger Staubach went 2-2. Montana won all four of his Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, including three of those under the late Bill Walsh. NFL gold standard
Working together, Brady and Belichick have established a new gold standard in the NFL.
“His style, I think, is very conducive to just getting the best out of me, so I think it’s a good fit,” Brady said. “He doesn’t give very many compliments out. He coaches us hard, and there are some throws that I make, you throw it 50 yards down the field, hit the guy in stride and I’m like, ‘Damn, that was a pretty good throw.’
“I look back at him and he’ll be looking for the next play. That’s just his style. He has a very high level of expectation. He’ll say all the time, ‘I hope my expectation for you guys isn’t better or more than your expectation for yourself.’ ”
Enjoying the show all these years as their boss and friend, Kraft doesn’t want the ride to stop. He’s hoping Belichick and Brady will continue to keep the NFL guessing for years to come.
“At least as long as the good Lord lets me breathe, I hope they’re playing or coaching,” Kraft said. “It’s been such a treat.”