Belichick knows end of Patriots’ dynasty is near
Bill Belichick knows.
And Belichick knows that his owner, Robert Kraft, doesn’t know. That’s the impression I got from reading Seth Wickersham’s article at ESPN.com Friday. The headline reads, “For Kraft, Brady and Belichick, is this the beginning of the end?”
It goes into detail about problems for the New England Patriots caused by Tom Brady’s personal trainer getting on Belichick’s nerves and creating friction with the team’s training and medical staff.
There is at least an insinuation that it was Brady who forced the trade of his backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, at the Nov. 1 trading deadline.
Actually, according to Wickersham, it was Kraft, after buying into Brady’s plan to play at least until he’s 45, who told Belichick to trade Garoppolo and draft another quarterback in April.
Garoppolo, who has the same agent as Brady, turned down a four-year deal, according to the story.
Belichick did what he was told and traded Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for a second-round draft pick.
So what does Belichick know that Kraft and Brady don’t?
He knows that Brady, as great as he’s been, is not the main reason for the Patriots’ success. Belichick knows that Belichick is the main reason.
Unlike every other person in New England, including his boss and the media, he has never slobbered all over himself in declaring Brady the greatest quarterback of all time.
He was the coach when the Patriots went 11-5 with Matt Cassel at quarterback. Cassel, at last look, had played for seven NFL teams.
He was the coach when Garoppolo started last season because of Brady’s Deflategate suspension and he saw the team win the three games Garoppolo started. Belichick also saw Garoppolo put up numbers that looked just like Brady’s and he saw Garoppolo’s mobility.
Belichick was also aware of of Garoppolo’s age (25). He saw Garoppolo as the guy who could give him a shot at a few more trips to the Super Bowl before retirement.
While most of the media were saying that Brady had laid claim to being the undisputed greatest quarterback of all time after winning the Super Bowl in February, Belichick did what he always does. He took the emotion out of it and looked at the game as a coach.
He saw Brady’s pick-6 in the first half that helped the Atlanta Falcons go to halftime with a 28-3 lead.
He saw the stupidity of the Falcons coaching staff, when they didn’t run time off the clock and try a chip-shot field goal, and he saw Brady’s bad pass that bounced off a defender’s hand and should have been intercepted but was turned into one of the best catches in NFL history, by Julian Edelman.
He also, in a previous Super Bowl that Brady was given the credit for winning, was standing on the sideline with Brady when Seattle’s Russell Wilson threw an interception from the one-yard line to end the game.
And let’s not forget Spygate. Belichick knows that he and Brady benefited from the cheating that cost him $500,000 and the Patriots a first-round draft pick.
How much they benefitted, only Belichick, Brady, his teammates, commissioner Roger Goodell and the other NFL owners know.
Does Belichick strike you as the kind of guy who would get teary-eyed at the prospect of seeing his quarterback play until he’s 45? Do you think he has any patience whatsoever for the notion that it’s remotely possible to declare one man as the greatest quarterback of all time?
Have you ever heard him refer to Brady as the GOAT?
Back on Dec. 22nd, when the Boston Globe reported that Brady’s trainer would no longer be allowed to travel with the Patriots, Belichick was asked about his relationship with Brady.
“He’s great to work with. Nobody is more prepared than Tom. Tom is always ready to go, always on top of it. He really takes coaching well. He has a lot of good ideas.”
Translation: He has succeeded because he has done what we’ve told him to do. “Really takes coaching well …”
Belichick knows.
So, what about Wickersham’s question? Is it the beginning of the end for the Brady-Belichick-Kraft dynasty?
Could Belichick be removed as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ AFC nemesis?
On Friday, the New York Daily News quoted a source close to Belichick as saying, “I’m sure Bill knows this is his last chance to coach the Giants. Bill sees an opening – an opening to get to the Giants.”
That sure would explain giving Garoppolo away for a second round draft pick, wouldn’t it?
John Steigerwald writes a Sunday colum for the Observer-Reporter.