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in the end, tom brady just wanted to say goodbye, in person, to his old coach. But according to a new book due out next month, Bill Belichick said he was unavailable and insisted the two New England Patriots legends talk on the phone.
despite belichick telling brady that he was “the best player the league had ever seen,” brady told a friend that the fact that he was on the phone “spoke” about how much he had The duo’s relationship deteriorated over the years. The book, “It’s Better to Be Feared,” by ESPN Senior Writer Seth Wickersham, will be published October 1. 12 per liveright publication. It is based on hundreds of interviews with a variety of sources, including previously confidential emails, text messages, game plans, scouting reports, and internal New England studies, including one that interviewed Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, tiger woods and brady on the personality traits that fueled their greatness.
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The book reveals the inner workings of the secretive and controversial Patriots franchise that dominated the NFL from 2001 to 2019 and illuminates the power dynamic between the motivated and proud trio of team owner Robert Kraft, Belichick and Brady. it also explores how some of the league’s biggest names inside and outside the organization dealt with the behemoth. The success brought out the football genius and flaws of Brady, Belichick and Kraft, and others throughout the league, Wickersham writes.
Wickersham writes that Brady ultimately left New England not only because both Belichick and Kraft refused to commit to him until his stated goal of playing until age 45; Belichick was believed to think Brady was near the end, but because he wanted to be in an organization that welcomed input from him instead of ignoring it, something he finally found in Tampa Bay.
“tom brady was curious if there was another way to win, and while no one was arguing that bruce arians was a better coach than bill belichick, or even close, the fluidity of the competition and brady’s performance was making the his former coach’s methodologies seem old-fashioned, even silly,” the book says. “it was better to be feared, but was it necessary?”
As examples of what the dynasty forged, Wickersham writes that Kraft once called Belichick the “biggest f-ng-a-hole in my life.” bill o’brien told a colleague that he tried to get fired as houston texans coach because he thought he might succeed belichick, the book says. belichick and nfl commissioner roger goodell had a much closer relationship than previously known and once secretly met in a new england aircraft hangar to discuss rule changes, even as attendees They unsuccessfully pleaded with Goodell to drop the Flategate investigation, concerned about long-term damage to the league’s brand.
new england’s historic race produced six super bowls in 19 years, but also multiple controversies, including spygate and deflategate.
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the hit that changed tom brady, brought in bledsoe and the course of nfl history
The book dives deep into Kraft and his influence on the team and the league, portraying him as an idealistic and patient leader and a loyal friend of the league, but also with a cruel streak often attributed to his head coach. . In 2018, with pat-a-cake success and controversies running out among all involved, Wickersham writes that Kraft, Brady, and Belichick were trying to put grievances aside to emerge victorious.
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“Brady was tired of accepting team-friendly deals without knowing how the money saved was being spent, and he still wanted a long-term contractual commitment,” Wickersham writes. Belichick told associates that all organizational decisions were now supportive of Brady, aimed at pleasing him and making him successful, and that Kraft meddled with the team, sometimes with opinions, sometimes with restrictive budgets.
“as for kraft, at the end of september, he was in aspen [colorado] for a conference and early one morning he ran into some friends in the hotel lobby. he told them he was going to detroit later, where they were The Patriots. Playing their next game. “I hate to leave here,” said Kraft. “If you leave here, you leave behind some of the brightest people you’ve ever met. you collect so much knowledge from all these brilliant minds. And I have to go to Detroit to be with the biggest idiot of my life: my head coach. “
“bill was a wise idiot,” kraft told a source, according to the book, alluding to belichick’s reputation before he hired the former cleveland browns coach in 2000. “i gave him this opportunity.”
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The tension within the franchise had been going on for years, says the book. At some point years earlier, if there was an NFL franchise in Los Angeles, Brady might have tried to force a trade there, according to those close to him.
“Kraft sometimes complained to confidants that Belichick wasn’t giving him the respect he deserved, but he was in no hurry to live after him,” Wickersham writes. “However, Brady seemed ready for that… ‘I don’t want to play for Bill anymore,’ he told those close to him in 2017.”
finally, according to the book, kraft, brady and a few others discussed scenarios about who would replace belichick. If offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left after the season to be a head coach elsewhere, New England could hire O’Brien and maybe one day succeed Belichick.
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“The plan was fanciful,” Wickersham writes, “but O’Brien found out. He was in a power struggle of his own in Houston, feuding with GM Rick Smith, a ‘dysfunctional’ and ‘toxic’ situation according to the houston chronicle, leaks from o’brien’s camp, claiming he wanted to get out, were so aggressive as to be suspicious, like he knew he had a golden parachute. in the end, though, the [texans] chose o’brien over smith, Giving the coach more control over football operations. O’Brien later joked with a confidant that it was a somewhat hollow victory. ‘I was trying to get fired,’ he said.”
Kraft, Brady, Belichick and the Patriots declined to be interviewed by Wickersham for the book, but are quoted from official interviews with the author over the last two decades. The Patriots did not respond to requests for comment on this story, although Belichick did respond to a question Wednesday at his regular news conference about whether he did not want to meet Brady in person.
“No, that’s not true,” he said. “there are a few things about this book; there seems to be a lot of second, third and fourth hand commentary. I’m not going to go into that. I’m going to focus on this game and try to prepare for bucs.”
among other findings in “it is better to be feared”:
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at the 2008 league meetings, belichick and then new york jets head coach eric mangini almost got into a fist fight. After a dinner for head coaches, Julie Mangini, Eric’s wife, bumped into Belichick and said hello, trying to ease the tension after the post-Spygate fallout. belichick blew her up, and when she told eric what had happened, he crossed the room and had to be stopped by other trainers from hitting belichick. “Hey Bill, f-you!” yelled mangini.
after spygate and during u.s. sen. Arlen Spectre’s investigation into whether the Patriots had videotaped the St. louis rams practice before super bowl xxxvi, former rams coach mike martz said he believed new england had also videotaped rams practices during the week. “I’d like to hang Belichick from the nuts,” he told a confidant.
During Spygate, then-Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan backed up Belichick, telling Goodell he wished he had videotaped the signals and was disappointed he hadn’t thought of cheating methods. Goodell had called coaches and executives to try to get more information about New England’s videotaping practices. almost everyone wanted belichick to be severely punished, except shanahan. “You can’t say Bill Belichick is a bad guy,” Shanahan told Goodell. “bill is better than most.”
Brady’s adjustment to world fame early in his career was more difficult than he ever publicly let on. cars followed him home from work. At one point during the week leading up to the 2002 Super Bowl against the Rams, Brady literally ran from fame. he and some friends decided to go out on bourbon street in new orleans, and before they could even get into a bar or restaurant, a crowd formed around them so dense they all ran down the sidewalk and ducked into an alley, hiding until the fanatics had dissipated. “Our lives have changed,” Brady told his parents after the win over the Rams. “You are going to change and I am going to change.”
Toward the end of his dynastic career, belichick commissioned an internal study to examine the characteristics of transcendent athletes. he interviewed jordan, bryant, woods and brady, among others. The study revealed that while the motivations of the rest of the elite athletes centered on themes of anger and manufactured conflict, Brady was different. He felt most at the peak of his powers “not when he was measuring the size of the chip on his shoulder, but when he was in a loving and supportive environment,” Wickersham writes.
team owners attempted to negotiate the 2011 collective bargaining agreement with union boss demaurice smith at myra kraft’s funeral. Robert Kraft had tried to ease a contentious moment between the NFL and the NFLPA by attending the collective bargaining agreement negotiations, despite the fact that his wife, Myra, was suffering from cancer. After her death in July 2011, many team owners and smiths attended her funeral. It was during the lockout. several owners tried to discuss the collective agreement and negotiate points at the funeral. “I wanted to throw up,” Smith told a source.
after deflategate, goodell was the public enemy of the patriots. He decided to visit Gillette Stadium during a 2017 preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. he wanted to walk the field during warmups, take his medicine from the crowd and ease the tension so he could return for the season opener, when the flag would be raised for the Patriots’ fifth Super Bowl. the trip was doomed from the start. First, the league’s plane broke down before it could take off. When the league secured another plane, Goodell was late and had missed warmups, defeating the purpose of the trip. league executives decided to leak the news that goodell was at the game to the boston globe. after reporter ben volin tweeted a grainy image of goodell in kraft’s suite, owner he broke down and yelled at league executives. “You’re killing me with the fans,” Kraft said. “why would i want to be seen here with roger with all this stuff going on with brady?”
Even though Goodell has severely punished the Patriots three times for rule violations, he has become close with Belichick. In addition to the secret meeting at a private airport to discuss rule changes, the morning after the Patriots won the Super Bowl over the Falcons, Belichick hugged Goodell and lifted the commissioner’s feet off the ground.
In 2016, after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump read a letter of support from Belichick at a campaign rally, Patriots assistant coach Brian Flores told Belichick that several players were angry and that ” I needed to say something” to the team. Belichick addressed the team, but was initially unhelpful. many players felt that he was being fake. “He was hypocritical and out of character,” one Patriots player recalled. “I don’t think he’s a bigot coach. He’s not a bad guy. Bill he just fucked it up and justified it in a way that he would never accept from a player.” After the meeting, a small group of Patriots players considered boycotting practice, but later reconsidered.
in the run up to super bowl lii against the philadelphia eagles, patriots cornerback malcolm butler and defensive coordinator matt patricia exchanged heated words in practice about the former super bowl hero’s lack of effort . butler was demoted. At the team party after the New England loss, Butler responded to teammates who asked why he was benched by saying “these guys,” referring to the coaches, according to the book, “these motherfuckers “.
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