Tom Brady’s decision to retire and unretire from the NFL this past offseason led to a lot of speculation regarding the rationale behind the moves.
One popular theory was that Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach, Bruce Arians, weren’t on the best of terms.
Given their past issues, this didn’t seem like a particularly far-fetched idea. Particularly given the frustration Brady had repeatedly expressed towards the coaching staff in general last year.
This week, Arians decided to confront this topic head on.
“I have no clue where it comes from,” Arians told Steve Wyche of the NFL Network regarding the alleged beef with Brady.
“Somebody’s got to write a story every day about something. Tom and I have a great relationship. Even during the retirement: ‘Where you at?’ ‘I’m in Italy.’ ‘How’s it going?’ ‘Got the kids over here.’ You know, just checking on him. I can’t get him back on the golf course because he’s traveling too much, so I can’t win enough money off of him.”
While Arians’ defensiveness on this topic is understandable, it’s hard not to be skeptical.
Generally speaking, where there’s smoke there’s fire. Besides, even Bucs GM Jason Licht seemed to recently hint that there was some truth to the rumors.
Since there seems to be a need for clarity on this…here is the transcript of my two questions and Bucs GM Jason Licht’s responses when I asked about reports of friction between Bruce Arians and Tom Brady. I interjected by saying some level of friction can be healthy. He agreed. pic.twitter.com/WGsCpR9xnT
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) March 22, 2022
Mind, you Brady went on to win Super Bowls with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots despite the two hating each other in the end.
So with that in mind, this isn’t exactly an unusual dynamic.
The photos speak for themselves. https://t.co/1CASGWbqpZ
— Game 7 (@game7__) March 27, 2022
Brady wouldn’t have seriously considered other options if he were that happy under Arians. Clearly there are some issues there.
Will those issues ultimately impede the Buccaneers’ ability to truly compete for a Super Bowl in 2022-23?
Time will tell.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
