New Bill Belichick Book Cites Tom Brady’s Interest In ‘Divorce’

New Bill Belichick Book Cites Tom Brady’s Interest In ‘Divorcing’ Patriots Head Coach

At approximately 11:45 PM EST on Tuesday, September 18th, ESPN mirrored a decision from January by rolling out a Patriots ‘hit piece’ in the middle of the night while most of the NFL nation sleeps as the network anxiously awaits another lively morning to come.Similar to the article released on January 5th, 2018 by ESPN Senior Writer Seth Wickersham titled ‘For Kraft, Brady and Belichick, is this the beginning of the end?‘, ESPN’s Ian O’Connor is set to release a book dubbed ‘Belichick: The Making Of The Greatest Football Coach Of All Time’ and the above article previews juicy details chronicling the current and past digressions of the Patriots legendary Head Coach, Bill Belichick.

"“Tom knows Bill is the best coach in the league, but he’s had enough of him. If Tom could, I think he would divorce him.”"

Unlike the detailed and methodical article pieced together by Wickersham, this article merely glazes over some of the titillating moments in Bill Belichick’s historic career that will be covered in O’Connor’s book.

"“If you’re married 18 years to a grouchy person who gets under your skin and never compliments you, after a while you want to divorce him,” a source with knowledge of the Brady-Belichick relationship told ESPN’s Ian O’Connor"

According to O’Connor and his unnamed sources, Tom Brady privately expressed feelings of entrapment this past off season, noting that he was frustrated enough to consider a trade request or retirement as late as this past March based on Belichick’s decisions, such as benching Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl, the lack of appreciation received by Bill and a track record of other misfortunes (DeflateGate, SpyGate, Job Security).

Detailed as a ‘transactional relationship’  between the 5-time champions, O’Connor notes that Brady and his camp have been uneasy of Tom’s future with Belichick at the helm citing how the Colts treated Peyton Manning in the twilight of his historic career. Furthermore, O’Connor has an unnamed Patriots Assistant quoted as saying that they felt they could have had the same success over the years with numerous other QB’s around the league and that coaches did not necessarily view Tom as ‘special’

"One New England assistant said the general feeling among staff members around that time wasn’t that Belichick’s system could make Super Bowl quarterbacks out of all 32 NFL starters. “But if you gave us any of the top 15, we could do it,” the assistant said. “I don’t think the coaches view Tom as special as everyone else in football does. Mr. Kraft thinks Tom is the greatest gift ever, but the coaches don’t.”"

The book is also expected to dive deep into other landmark moments throughout Belichick’s career with new details that seem to paint Bill in a new light. Topics such as DeflateGate, SpyGate, Aaron Hernandez, his time with Bill Parcells and the Giants and his stint with Nick Saban on the Browns.

Based on Bill Belichick’s response during the early stages of the DeflateGate controversy along with the shocking announcement that Robert Kraft and the New England Patriots would not carry out an appeal of Tom’s four-game suspension, Brady’s camp was eager to paint Belichick as unsupportive and readily willing to let Tom take the fall according to O’Connor

"“I thought Bill handled it terribly, especially when it involved a guy who’d done everything to help your career as a coach, and you hung him out to dry.” – A close friend of Brady"

The bombshell book is also expected to explore the SpyGate scandal further revealing events and conversations at the time of the confiscation of Patriots video tapes in the Meadowlands leading up to the 2007 opener between the Jets and Patriots. On hand was FBI agent and longtime New Jersey State Trooper, Bob Bukowski, who was quoted as saying

"“They knew what was on it, and they wanted it back. They were trying any reason, but there was no way.”"

Another twist to the Belichick story told in the upcoming book involves the Aaron Hernandez situation. Leading up to the 2010 draft, Urban Meyer (a friend of Belichick) seemingly made it very clear to NFL teams that Hernandez was a talented athlete but warned all of drafting what he believed to be an enormous liability

"“Look, this guy’s a hell of a football player, but he f—ing lies to beat the system and teaches all our other guys to beat the system. With the marijuana stuff, we’ve never caught this guy, but we know he’s doing it. … Don’t f—ing touch that guy.”"

The book seemingly also covers his relationships with both Bill Parcells and Nick Saban. Parcells and Belichick’s tattered relationship was well documented over the years but O’Connor’s literature suggests that Parcells has made light attempts in passing to discredit Belichick’s contribution to the Giants Super Bowls. Parcells is even quoted in the book as saying the defensive game plan from the 1986 Super Bowl by then defensive coordinator Bill Belichick should not have been the side of the ball to go into the Hall of Fame. He suggested that the offensive playbook of then Offensive Coordinator Ron Erhardt should have been the side to be honored.

Futhermore on Bill’s stint with the New York Giants, George Young (former Giants General Manager) is quoted as saying Belichick never was viewed as a potential replacement as Head Coach

"‘He’ll never become the Giants’ head coach.’ … George, like others, said, ‘This is an ex-lacrosse player. He’s a disheveled-looking mess most of the time.’"

On coach Nick Saban, former Browns Pro Bowl DE Rob Burnett detailed the hindering of Saban’s gameplan and strategy under Belichick’s regime. Burnett referenced conversations with Saban learning that Belichick would ignore play calls implemented by Saban on game days and considered Bill’s approach ‘As vanilla as ice cream’

"“Nick was so pissed with Bill,” recalled Pro Bowl defensive end Rob Burnett. “He wanted to do so many things and he was hamstrung by Bill."

Since departing the Browns in 1994 after serving as Belichick’s defensive coordinator for three seasons, Saban has gone on to win 6 National Championships at the college level and only returned to the NFL for a year with the Miami Dolphins.

Unique to the rest of the topics, there appears to be some positive literature on Bill Belichick’s father, Steve, referencing his role in race relations during his time with the Navy. The book seemingly tells the tale of Steve Belichick and one of the Navy’s first black officers, Samuel Barnes. Barnes’ daughter Olga is noted in the book as relating the relationship to that of Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo depicted in the 1971 film ‘Brian’s Song’.

There has never been a moment in Bill Belichick’s career where he was regarded as kind, flexible, understanding or any synonyms of the sort. He is regarded as the greatest coach to ever grace this game. He is also noted as a cold, calculated individual will a single motor, W-I-N. Based on the way you calculate success, many can argue that despite the clear story to be told about Belichick’s path, it may have been worth it. But at what cost? If football fans spend the following decades arguing the nature in which Belichick accomplished these feats, you can’t help but imagine his legacy will be tarnished in some capacity.

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It will be interesting to see the full details on these agenda items among predictably more in O’Connor’s tell-all. For New England natives, it is hard to argue with the formula of success. For year, the Patriots faithful have been warding off a barrage of attacks towards their local deities. In recent years, whether you buy in to the numerous stories of descent among the Patriots brass and top contributors or even if you consider pieces of it to be true, the ‘Patriots Way’ has taken a beating. Again, many will remain indifferent knowing that they have enjoyed two decades of unprecedented performances and irreplaceable glories.

Regarding this story as a whole, ESPN sure has shown a unique way of revealing Patriots incendiary accounts of deceit, dismay and destruction. After inciting the DeflateGate era along with pieces such as this one and Wickersham’s before it, there is a clear target directed at Gillette Stadium which will likely remain until the Patriots reign of Kraft, Belichick and Brady ends. And why not? It’s similar to the Marvel movies…They continue to create new stories and tales that the public will forever feast upon. The Patriots incite a reaction (Good, Bad or Ugly) no matter the topic at hand. A day after the shocking acquisition of a troubled receiver, Josh Gordon will be usurped by a 24-hour news cycle of Belichick-Belichick-Belichick

For the immediate future of the New England Patriots, this is a lot of the same as it has been for the last decade. If you remember, the Wickersham article was released prior to Wild Card weekend in the NFL playoffs last season, a week the Patriots rarely participate in. The response was minuscule, but united by Kraft, Belichick and Brady at the time prior to a 35-14 defeat of the Tennessee Titans on their way to another Super Bowl appearance, the trio’s eight.

This story has been revealed days removed from a decisive victory for the Jaguars over the Patriots in a AFC Championship rematch. If history tells us anything, this storyline may fuel the Patriots fire for the 2018 season. The past three occurrences of this magnitude resulted in three Super Bowl appearances. The first, a Super Bowl victory over the Seahawks after the initial DeflateGate story following the AFC Championship game vs. the Colts. The second, a masterful season by the Patriots and Tom Brady after he served his four game suspension, resulting in another Super Bowl victory against the Falcons. The third, a Super Bowl appearance against the Eagles following the Wickersham article on the Patriots legendary trio.

Who knows, maybe this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Maybe Tom Brady is truly ‘done’ with the only NFL head coach he has played for. In recent weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers have spiraled out of control as Le’Veon Bell remains absent and Mike Tomlin sits on the hot seat after being arguably the second most consistent team during the Patriots tenure with Brady and Belichick. The Seahawks brief and dominant reign in the NFC is also seemingly coming to an end and as mentioned before, we all watched the conclusion of Peyton Manning’s career. All great things do come to an end after all.

If I was a betting man, which I am, I would still put my chips on the Patriots square (Is that how roulette works?). A team that is seemingly impervious to public scrutiny can predictably continue that trend. Bill Belichick is a robot after all and Tom Brady still doesn’t eat strawberries. If you want to bet against them returning to the Super Bowl, that’s your decision.

As O’Connor notes in his article, the trade of Jimmy Garoppolo clearly indicated that Tom Brady is still the guy for the next few seasons. By virtue, he has committed to his previous statement of playing deep into his forties and anything else would be a disappointment to the Patriots fan base. Can he sustain a (business) relationship with someone who he allegedly can no longer stand in order to conserve his image and legacy? Either way, with the conclusion of this season will come undoubtebly the most unpredictable Patriots off-season to date.

To read the complete rundown of what is expected from Ian O’Connor’s book, ‘Belichick: The Making Of The Greatest Football Coach Of All Time’, Click Here.