"Ripping him repeatedly, publicly, was poor form" - NFL analyst astonished with how Bruce Arians handled Tom Brady at Buccaneers
When Tom Brady left the New England Patriots organization after 20 successful seasons, many were under the impression that the reason was because head coach Bill Belichick wasn't ingratiating enough.
So when Brady chose to play for head coach Bruce Arians and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, many also assumed that there would be a change from the way he was respected by the head coach.
But according to Fox Sports personality and NFL analyst Colin Cowherd, that's not exactly what the seven-time Super Bowl champion received during his two years in Tampa.
"Rich Ohrnberger is a former NFL player... a radio host in San Diego and a frequent guest on my show. He came out and said with absolute conviction (and he's got connections all over the league) that Brady and Arians' relationship soured. My first takeaway is, 'Yeah, you tell me, the superstar in American sports that likes being shouted out and ripped by his coach regularly.' I never liked it when Arians did that," Cowherd said.
Cowherd continued to expound on how uncomfortable the GOAT must have felt after being publicly chastised numerous times by Bruce Arians.
"He has a right to... he's the head coach," Cowherd said. "But Bruce [Arians] can be very loose in his coaching in his style. And I thought ripping Brady repeatedly, publicly, was poor form. Tom's a good guy, but he's got an ego. He's the best player in the history of the most popular (sport) domestically. I use discretion when ripping him publicly. "
Heard some interesting things recently... The Tom Brady & Bruce Arians honeymoon was over in Tampa. The retirement announcement wasn't because of the trouble seeing eye to eye on the offensive game planning, but the relationship was souring.
There have been several reports of a somewhat fractured relationship between the three-time NFL MVP and Bruce Arians (mostly from Ohrnberger), but the head coach has refuted those statements.
“It seems like there’s one (story) every day now," Arians said. "Everybody is speculating he’s going somewhere else. That don’t bother me. This other bulls---, the relationship thing, that’s so far-fetched.’’
Will Tom Brady play again for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
If Tom Brady were interested in returning to the league in 2022, many wonder if he would want to once again join the Buccaneers amidst the rumors of a fractured relationship between himself and Bruce Arians.
There is always the chance that the team could trade him, but why would they look to do so after having arguably his best season ever at the age of 44.
The 2021-2022 NFL season ended for the Bucs in a 30-27 Divisional Round playoff loss to eventual Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams. For the season, he threw for 5,316 passing yards; 43 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions.
He also finished in second place in the NFL MVP award to Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.
There have been indications that he misses the game that he loves to play, including this tweet from his phone just hours before Super Bowl LVI was to begin.
Sh*t… https://t.co/TR6kr6Bgss
Will the All-Pro quarterback return to the Bucs in 2022 in an attempt to capture an elusive eighth Super Bowl? The answer will hopefully come sooner than we all expect.