Tom Brady’s address may have changed, but Gillette Stadium is still very much his house.
After two decades, six Super Bowl titles, and 266 total wins with the Patriots, the most decorated player in NFL history returned to New England for the first time on Sunday night and guided his Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a dramatic 19-17 win over his former team.
He was far from perfect, completing just 22 of 43 passes in his first game against his former coach, Bill Belichick, since their breakup in March of 2020, when Brady first signed in Tampa. And were it not for Patriots kicker Nick Folk’s missed field goal in the final minute — a promising 56-yard attempt that ultimately hit the rain-soaked upright — Brady’s night would have ended much differently.
Since their split, the 44-year-old won his seventh Super Bowl last February and Belichick has seemingly found Brady’s successor in rookie quarterback Mac Jones, who impressed with a pair of touchdown passes on Sunday. Meanwhile, the rumors continued swirling, claiming Brady and Belichick had soured on each other long before the former’s exit from New England.
There had been troubling reports for Patriots fans before the break. For instance, Belichick banned Brady’s personal trainer from team flights and revoked his sideline access in 2017, according to The Boston Globe; and ESPN reported that the quarterback felt threatened by the presence of former backup, Jimmy Garoppolo.
But for all of the alleged friction, the two did share a hug following Sunday’s final whistle, albeit a brief one. They even had a private locker room meeting before Brady knocked the reporting about his relationship with Belichick.
‘Nothing is really accurate that I ever see,’ Brady said. ‘It definitely doesn’t come from my personal feelings or beliefs. I have a lot of respect for him as a coach and a lot of respect for this organization.’
‘They are a good football team and he’s a great quarterback, and I think that all goes without saying,’ Belichick said.
As for their post-game conversation, Brady said that will ‘remain private.’
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) is congratulated by fans after defeating the New England Patriots 19-17
For all of the reported friction between Brady and Belichick, the two shared a hug following the final whistle, albeit a brief one
Technically it was a road game for Brady, but that didn’t stop the roughly 66,000 Patriots fans in Foxborough, Massachusetts from chanting his name as he ran onto the field Sunday night. Nor, for that matter, did it prevent Patriots owner Robert Kraft from greeting Brady with a hug shortly after he arrived at Gillette Stadium. Brady even had family on site, with parents Tom Sr. and Galynn watching the action from luxury suite.
‘I’m not surprised,’ Brady said of his reception. ‘I tried not to predict what was going to happen and how I would feel. Had a few emotional in the moments this week just thinking about the people that have really meant so much to me in my life and that are a part of this community.’
The warm moments aside, though, Patriots fans were visibly torn over their hero’s return, with some wearing his old New England replica jersey and others donning his Tampa Bay apparel. Some, like Josh Nelson of Burrillville, Rhode Island, sewed the two together to make a hybrid Patriots-Buccaneers Brady jersey.
‘He’s a classy guy. I’ve been a Tom Brady fan forever,’ said Nelson, a season ticket holder for more than seven years. ‘The memories of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, we can’t forget that success.’
And then there were the fans’ signs, most of which welcomed Brady back to New England, while a few excoriated Belichick for failing to re-sign his trusted quarterback last year: ‘U blew it Bill.’
But the tone changed sharply after the Patriots punted on the game’s first possession.
Fans didn’t just boo Brady and the Bucs offense when they took the field, but they actually howled in delight as he failed to connect on two of his first four passes. The roars only grew louder when Brady was sacked in the second quarter by first-year Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon.
And when Brady broke New Orleans Saints legend Drew Brees’s all-time record of 80,358 passing yards, Patriots fans paid little notice, although the team did commemorate the moment on the scoreboard.
Tom Brady warms up before Sunday’s game between his current team, the Buccaneers, and his former team, the Patriots
Tom Brady walks to the visitors locker room before Sunday night’s game against the Patriots in New England
The Patriots proved to be gracious hosts by honoring Brady for breaking Drew Brees’s passing yardage record in the first quarter (left). (Right) New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels shares a hug with his former quarterback
Josh Nelson, of Burrillville, Rhode Island, wears a jersey featuring quarterback Tom Brady’s number and in the colors of both his old team, the New England Patriots, right side, and of his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tom Brady enters Gillette Stadium as a member of the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Laura Marci of Rhode Island talks with a WCVB local news reporter before a game between the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Gillette Stadium. Belichick was reportedly reluctant to commit to Brady, 44, when he became a free agent in 2020. Brady responded by winning his seventh Super Bowl back in February
New England Patriots fan Stephanie Lamontagne, left, of Merrimack, New Hampshire smiles while chatting with Bill Gately, of Burrillville, Rhode Island, while tailgating near a sign greeting the return of quarterback Tom Brady prior to an NFL football game between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sisters Devon Poduje, 20, right, and Tiegan Poduje, 13, of West Hartford, Connecticut, sport Tom Brady jerseys, with Devon wearing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers version and Tiegan wearing a New England Patriots version
The battle between the Bucs and Patriots wasn’t insignificant. Tampa Bay, a Super Bowl contender, was coming off a loss to the Los Angeles Rams, while New England was looking to gain momentum behind Jones, a first-round pick in April’s NFL Draft.
But naturally, the eyes of the football-loving world were fixated on Belichick and Brady, arguably the most successful coach-player relationship in NFL history before coming to an abrupt ending last year.
Their relationship has intrigued football fans since the unassuming backup quarterback took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 and guided the Patriots to their first Super Bowl title.
Despite reports of turmoil in recent seasons, the two have been complimentary towards each other in public, with Belichick saying in 2018 that there’s no quarterback he’d rather have, and Brady telling Boston radio station WEEI in 2019 that he gets along well with his ‘great mentor.’ Most memorably, in 2018, Brady called Belichick ‘the best coach in the history of the NFL.’
That same year, however, reports surfaced about disagreements between Brady’s trainer and business partner, Alex Guerrero, and the Patriots medical staff. Guerrero, who also treated some of Brady’s teammates, was ultimately banned from the sideline.
One ESPN report has since claimed Brady bristled as Belichick developed his presumed successor, Jimmy Garoppolo, only to have Kraft pressure the decorated coach into trading the young quarterback to San Francisco in October of 2017.
A view of fans wearing different Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady jerseys before the game
Melissa Zaske, left, of Vancouver, wears Tom Brady’s current Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey while walking with her husband Derek, who wears Tom Brady’s old New England Patriots jersey, prior to Sunday’s game in Foxborough, Massachusetts
Patriots rookie quarterback Matt Jones (No. 10) reacts in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers
According to Seth Wickersham’s new book, It’s Better To Be Feared, Brady left the Patriots, in part, because he was upset that the team and Belichick refused to commit to him through the 2022 season. He previously stated he wanted to play in the NFL until he’s 45.
Also, Brady reportedly grew tired of having his input rejected by Belichick in New England, and thought Tampa Bay would be more agreeable to hearing his ideas. Ultimately, Brady decided he stood a better chance with the Bucs and head coach Bruce Arians, who has a more player-friendly reputation than Belichick.
‘Tom Brady had been curious if there was another way of winning, and while nobody was arguing that Bruce Arians was a better coach than Bill Belichick, or even close, the seamlessness of Brady’s proficiency and performance was making his former coach’s methodologies look antiquated, even silly,’ reads one passage, quoted by ESPN.
‘It was better to be feared — but was it necessary?’
Brady had sought a face-to-face meeting with Belichick before his departure, but his longtime coach opted for a phone call instead because he wasn’t available. And just like that, their working relationship was over.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick celebrated Super Bowl victories together six times. Brady has added one more title since then
Tom Brady celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after beating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV
Brady celebrates his seventh Super Bowl title with longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski, who was out Sunday due to injury
Brady’s post-breakup success continued on Sunday night.
Despite his early struggles, Brady engineered the fourth-quarter drive to beat his former team. Ronald Jones added an 8-yard scoring run for defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay (3-1).
‘So many great guys that have been friends for a long time. What a great game,’ Brady said. ‘They got a really good football team. They made us earn it.’
Brady broke Drew Brees’ NFL career passing yardage record and became the fourth quarterback with victories against all 32 NFL teams, joining Brees, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.
‘In crunch time when we needed a field goal, he got us down the field,’ Bucs coach Bruce Arians said. ‘He wasn’t going to make any mistakes that cost us the game.’
‘I just think it’s amazing statistic in that so many people can share in it with me,’ Brady said. ‘Quarterback doesn’t throw and catch. Quarterback can just throw it. It’s yards. Passing yards have to be caught, so I just hope that everybody who caught passes from me over the years just had a little smile on their face tonight knowing they contributed to a very cool record. There are some people that have kind of preceded it by name, Drew Brees who I look up to, hell of a guy. Peyton Manning who is one of my all-time favorites. Brett Favre, Dan Marino.’
New England had a chance to win, but Nick Folk’s 56-yard field-goal try hit the left upright with with less than a minute to play. The Patriots are 1-3 for the first time since 2001. Bill Belichick is now 8-12 since Brady left New England.
‘The Bucs won this game,’ Arians said. ‘Everyone wanted to make this Brady vs Belichick. I don’t think Bill took a snap.’
Belichick said nothing Brady did surprised them.
‘We went against Tom Brady every day, every day in practice defensively,’ Belichick said. ‘So it’s not like we’ve ever seen Tom Brady before.’
Jones finished 31 of 40 for 275 yards and two touchdowns.
The Buccaneers were hurt by multiple mistakes on defense as well as spotty special teams play – marked by poor punts, a missed early field goal and costly penalties.
But Tampa was able to come up with timely plays to stay in the game, including Antoine Winfield Jr. forcing a fumble by J.J. Taylor that was recovered by Richard Sherman to thwart a promising drive early in the third quarter.
With Tampa Bay down 17-16, Brady and the Buccaneers took over on their own 25 and needed just seven plays drive to the Patriots 30. After Antonio Brown failed to hang onto a pass in the end zone Succop calmly connected on a 48-yarder with 2:02 left.
Leading 7-6, the Patriots punted and Matt Slater appeared to recover a fumble by Jaydon Mickens. But an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Slater negated the play.
The Bucs took over and finished an eight-play, 52-yard drive with an 8-yard scoring run by Ronald Jones.
The Patriots responded on their next possession, using six straight completions by Jones to drive to the Bucs 1. Jones then found Jonnu Smith in back of the end zone for to put the Patriots back in front 14-13.
Patriots fans began the night cheering Brady but quickly turned on their former hero following the opening kickoff
Tampa marched all the way to the Patriots 8 on their ensuing drive before being forced to settle for Ryan Succop’s third field goal of the game to make it 16-14.
New England took back over with 7:58 left in the game and quickly moved down the field, getting into the red zone on a trick play that ended with receiver Jakobi Meyers throwing a 30-yard pass to Nelson Agholor. The drive stalled there and the Patriots nudged back in front 17-16 on Nick Folk’s 27-yard field goal.
Brady was welcomed with cheers during the pregame before taking the field to a stream of boos on the Buccaneers’ first drive of the night.
Some cheers returned on their second offensive series of the night when he completed a 28-yard pass to Mike Evans to surpass Brees’s mark of 80,358 yards to become the NFL’s career passing leader in the regular season.
The pass helped set up a 29-yard field goal to put the Bucs in front 3-0.
Tampa Bay’s defense dialed up the pressure on Jones on the Patriots’ next drive. Linebacker Devin White got a free run at Jones up the middle, forcing him to hurry a pass that was tipped by Ross Cockrell and intercepted by Winfield.
The Patriots made the mistake moot, stopping the Buccaneers on third down just inside the red zone. The Buccaneers attempted another field goal, but this time Succop was wide right from 36 yards.