Tom Brady Reveals He Told Bill Belichick to ‘Bench’ Certain Patriots Teammates: ‘I’m Not Throwing Him the Ball
Tom Brady gets candid about his QB duties and reveals how he asked Coach Bill Belichick to ‘bench’ some players.
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There will hardly ever be a QB-HC duo as great as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Why? They shared mutual trust with each other. Given all the things that they have sacrificed for each other based just on the word of others, it forged them to be the best ever. One of them was Bill Belichick ‘benching’ certain players, receivers to be particular, based on Tom Brady’s words.
In a recent sit-down with Stephen A. Smith at the Fanatics Fest in New York, Tom Brady revealed that he had a say in which receiver would play and which one would not. "I would just tell him directly, 'He's out. Put him out,'" Brady said in his honest conversation with Stephen A. Smith. "And I would tell the coach, 'Don't put him in because I'm not throwing him the ball. So you put him in; we've got 10 guys out there.'"
Brady said, explaining why he immediately wanted the ‘clueless’ receivers out. "He's barely lined up right. He's looking over at the sidelines," Brady continued. "It looks like he's trying to ask the coach, 'What do I get?' And I'm like, 'He's out. I'm throwing the ball somewhere else.’”
But then, what did it take for the receiver to earn Brady’s trust? Giving their all in every single play. The conversation not only pointed out that Brady had a say in selecting the wide receivers but also highlighted how important it was for the receivers to be in sync with him. The GOAT also revealed that he would always vouch for the ones like Gronkowski and Wes Welker, whom he “never had to worry about.”
"I never thought for one second whether he was going to do the right thing or not," Brady said. "That just frees my mind up to do what I need to do because my job's not easy.” Stephen A. Smith even reconfirmed it, asking if he was being literal, to which Brady promptly agreed. Well, the scenario of head coaches relying on veteran players’ opinions to identify the unprepared or under-confident players.
Additionally, this trust of Belichick in Brady’s words has crafted some of the best pass catchers in the books of the NFL, with the best example being Rob Gronkowski. Brady and Gronkowski combined to set the record for most postseason touchdowns by QB-WR duo: 15 in 22 postseason games. Although Chiefs’ Mahomes and Kelce broke that record earlier this year, Brady and Mahomes as QB-WR would always be remembered as one of the best duos in the NFL in the same circle as Jerry Rice and Joe Montana.
That is just one record on the field. The Brady-Gronk duo has several more to their name. Even off-field, the two remain best buddies, with their partnership reflecting to date in the several events they attend together. And it’s not just his relationship with Gronk; Brady also boasts identical relationships with several of his Patriots teammates.
No wonder Brady’s call in ‘benching’ the unprepared WRs contributed a fair share to the success the Patriots enjoyed in their golden era.
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