At least outwardly, Tom Brady had nothing but glowing things to say about his time with the Patriots when he announced his departure from New England in March after 20 seasons.
“To all my teammates, coaches, executives and staff, Coach Belichick, RKK and the Kraft family and the entire organization. I want to say thank you for the past twenty years of my life and the daily commitment to winning and creating a winning culture built on great values,” Brady wrote on Instagram. “I am grateful for all that you have taught me — I have learned from everyone. You all have allowed me to maximize my potential and that is all a player can ever hope for.”
But according to longtime NFL journalist Gary Myers, all was not well on the Patriots sideline, especially between Brady and Josh McDaniels, New England’s offensive coordinator for a sizable portion of Brady’s tenure there.
“Hard to present an order of why Tom Brady didn’t want to return to Patriots,” Myers wrote Monday on Twitter. “But one thing has been very much overlooked, according to an excellent source: His deteriorating relationship with OC Josh McDaniels. Tom was worn out by Josh after all these years. That surprised me.”
“They made (it) seem they were brothers fighting after sideline blowups. Worse than that. Brady also wanted more input into game plan,” Myers continued. “Also, he knew it was final season in NE & said when he didn’t trust WRs, didn’t throw to them. Bad look. Pats lacked reliable WR other than Edelman.”
After Myers’ tweets, Brady posted an Instagram story in which he showed images of the headlines created by Myers’ tweets. “Please stop this nonsense!” and “Please be more responsible with reporting,” he wrote. “19 years together and brothers for life,” he added, tagging McDaniels in the process.
Myers did not back down, however, saying later that he had multiple sources on the story and that he trusts them.
“You can trust what Tom said publicly. I trust what I learned went on in private,” he wrote on Twitter. His reporting also was backed up by Boston television/radio personality Christopher Gasper, who wrote that Myers’ reporting was “dead on.”
“The professional/personal relationship between Brady and McDaniels was more strained than publicly portrayed, a source told me,” Gasper wrote. “Brady found it frustrating that Josh wouldn’t install plays TB12 wanted in the game plan last season. It felt like a phasing out.”
Brady and his coaches have gotten into it on the sideline a few times during games in recent years, notably during a 2017 game against the Bills when Brady and McDaniels starting jawing at each other:
Brady played down the spat after the game, telling reporters “it’s just football. We’ve been around each other a lot. I love Josh.”
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