Tom Brady had eyes on one team after leaving Patriots and it wasn't the Buccaneers, new book reveals
Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocked many when it came about. Tom Brady was Mr Patriot. So it was a surprise to see him play somewhere else, never mind an unfashionable team like the Buccaneers.
But now a new book, It’s Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness by Seth Wickersham, has thrown light on which team Tom Brady wanted to go to after having made up his mind to leave the New England Patriots. Instead of the East Coast and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida, it was supposed to be the West Coast and the San Francisco 49ers in California.
Tom Brady had his eyes on the 49ers after leaving the Patriots and before joining the Buccaneers
When Tom Brady felt that he was underappreciated by the New England Patriots, he made up his mind to quit the organization. He wanted a contract till he was 45 and neither the coach nor the owner seemed sold on it. Right from when he was drafted, people had overlooked his real value and he was not going to stand up for that again, even if it meant severing ties with the one organization who believed in him all those years ago.
When he made up his mind to leave the Patriots, he also started making a list of all the places he would like to go. He had some requirements that he noted down. He wanted to stay away from the harsh winters of New England. He wanted somewhere sunnier. Tom Brady also wanted to be closer to his family, whether it be his son Jack or his parents who were in California.
Tom Brady was at Joe Montana's last game at Candlestick Park. He saw his idol go to another team. When asked about that, Brady said, “Life continues to change for all of us." It's about having the opportunity to keep playing the game he loves.
He reached out to the San Francisco 49ers, the team he had supported as a child and whose quarterback Joe Montana was his idol. Moving there meant that his parents would be able to drive in and see his games regularly. There will be sunshine and happiness.
The San Francisco 49ers gave serious consideration to Tom Brady's outreach. It is not often that the greatest quarterback of all time offers you his services. But they had just come back from a Super Bowl. Jimmy Garoppolo had led them nearly to the Lombardi Trophy. The 49ers decided to stick with him; a quarterback who knew their system, had taken them to a Super Bowl and was fifteen years younger.
Tom Brady has thrown NFL-high 66 TD passes in regular season + playoffs since joining Tampa before 2020 season. That's exactly twice as many TD passes as the #49ers have during that same time period when they decided to stick with Garoppolo instead of making run at Brady
Once again, Tom Brady was underestimated. And as history will tell you, he has always come back stronger from rejections. He did so again now, by joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unlike the 49ers the year before, they did not lose to the Kansas City Chiefs in their final game. The Buccaneers went ahead and thrashed the Chiefs with Brady as their leader. As he has done so often. It should never have been a surprise.
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