Can Brady, Belichick keep going?
QB nearing 40 and head coach at 64, but few indications of success waning
The New England Patriots have been the model of consistency in the NFL. But how much longer will the architects be at it?
Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady have worked together for 17 seasons, an unprecedented run by a coach and player in the NFL or any sport for that matter. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Thursday that he wants Belichick to coach the team as long as he’d like to, and with the success the team has had, it’s hard to envision the franchise without Belichick.
“I’m very happy with him,” Kraft said. “We’ve been together for 17 years. I like it when I hear him say that he’s getting paid to do what he loves. We’ll try to keep him like that.”
In the week leading up to New England’s thrilling 34-28 overtime victory against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in Super Bowl LI — the seventh Super Bowl appearance and fifth win by Brady and Belichick — many questions were posed about the R word: retirement.
“For as long as the good Lord helps me breathe,” Kraft said, “I hope they’re playing or coaching.”
Brady will turn 40 in August. Belichick is the NFL’s secondoldest head coach at 64, behind Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks.
Brady said last year he wants “to play for a long time, maybe 10 more years.” If he sticks to his word, Brady would be 48 then. By comparison, Hall of Fame quarterback George Blanda set an NFL record as the oldest player to appear in a game in 1975 with the Oakland Raiders at 48.
Brady, though, is still one of the top players at his position. He set an NFL record this season for the best touchdown-to-interception ratio at 28-2, completed 67.4% of his passes for 3,554 yards and posted a passer rating of 112.2 in 12 regular-season games.
He finished second to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan in the league’s MVP voting. Brady was brilliant in the second half of the Super Bowl, rallying the Patriots from a 25-point deficit and finishing with 466 passing yards.
When asked who would retire first, Brady said, “That’s a good question. I don’t know what he plans on doing. He’s the best, and 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 B.S. with Coach Belichick, and I think that’s what players appreciate. When you come into the program, you realize it’s all about football and it’s not a bunch of rah-rah crap that’s not going to matter and has no bearing on preparing you for the game.”
You could make the argument that Brady is playing as well as he has in his career. Father Time, though, is undefeated.
There’s a certain point when age strips all quarterbacks of their physical gifts. But Brady’s workout regimen and diet are notorious for maximizing his longterm conditioning and health. This is a man who claims he has never eaten a strawberry and whose food is 80% organic vegetables and 20% lean meats.
Brady’s time will come, but given his production and the way the Patriots protect him behind an improving offensive line, it still might be years away.
Belichick, the son of a longtime coach, is known for appreciating the grind. And despite his advancing age, Belichick has something that most coaches in the league don’t.
He spends time with his family while he’s working.
His two sons are Patriots staffers. Steve is the safeties coach, and Brian is a scouting assistant. Last week, Belichick called it “special.” He beams when discussing working with Steve and Brian, and it’s clear in listening to him talk about it that their presence mitigates the sting of the sacrifices he has to make — most notably spending so much time away from home.
There’s no indication that the allure of coaching is fading. If anything, he seems to relish the challenges. This was the season, after all, in which Brady was suspended for the first four games for his alleged role in the Deflategate controversy. All the Patriots did was rip through those games with a 3-1 record.
“I don’t really see it as work. It actually beats working,” Belichick said. “You get to do what you love to do, dealing with a lot of great people. I have a great staff. Players work hard and are very cooperative and compliant. They have a great attitude about teamwork, playing unselfishly and working unselfishly. Really doesn’t feel like work.”