Robert Kraft’s cryptic Tom Brady analogy seems like shot at Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick, unbearable father-in-law?

Patriots owner Robert Kraft didn’t name names in a cryptic analogy he used to describe Tom Brady’s departure after 20 years with the franchise. But he made it clear there was something holding Brady back from being a Patriot for a 21st year.

“Think about loving your wife and for whatever reason, there’s something — her father or mother – that makes life impossible for you and you have to move on but you don’t want to,” Kraft told NFL Network.

The figurative mother or father-in-law that made things impossible for Brady is up for debate, but many have been connecting the dots to Belichick.

Belichick spoke glowingly of Brady in a statement released by the team on Tuesday after the quarterback announced he was leaving the Patriots. But a rift between Brady and Belichick has been well-documented in recent years.

In fact, a source in a 2018 book by ESPN’s Ian O’Connor — “Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time” — used similar language as Kraft to describe the relationship between the two pillars of the Patriots’ dynasty.

“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 relationship told O’Connor after the 2017 season. “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.”

Brady was finally a free agent for the first time in his career this month and completed the divorce, officially signing with the Buccaneers on Friday for a fully guaranteed two-year deal, worth $50 million.

Much was made of the Brady-Belichick relationship during the 2017 season, when Belichick cut down on the access for Brady’s personal trainer and business partner, Alex Guerrero. Other reports indicated that Kraft demanded that Belichick trade Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the coach and general manager was thought to be grooming to someday replace Brady.

Asked in 2018 whether he felt appreciated by the Patriots, Brady demurred.

“I plead the fifth,” Brady told Jim Gray with a grin. “Man, that is a tough question. I think everybody in general wants to be appreciated more in their professional life, but there’s a lot of people that appreciate me way more than I ever thought was possible as part of my life.”

Source: Read Full Article