The New Tom Brady
September 1st, 2020
Changed man? (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
Could the (really) old quarterback actually be a new quarterback? That’s what Albert Breer seems to think.
Breer, of SI.com, spent two days at Bucs training camp last week and used to be a Patriots beat guy when Brady was setting the NFL on fire.
Breer paints a picture of a perfectionist, maniacally-driven Brady who never stood down when a teammate played down.
Per Breer, Brady was known for freaking out on teammates for the slightest mistakes. But Breer said he saw the same mistakes being made in Bucs practices that used to send Brady through the ceiling, and instead he saw Brady become much more cheerleader than taskmaster.
This, at least to me, looked like a different Tom Brady than the one I’d seen in New England over the last two decades. And coupled with the practice I was watching—the kind that would set him off on the practice fields of Foxboro—I started to think about, and probably overthink, what I was seeing.
That was eight days ago. The next day, last Monday, I asked Bruce Arians about this relentless sunshine-pumping, coming from the most relentless competitor I’ve ever been around.
“Oh, I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,” Arians told me, laughing. “I mean, he has not gotten on anybody’s ass at all. If he’s gonna get on anybody’s ass, it’s back behind when somebody else is taking reps. Then, he’ll talk to them.”
And that may have happened, Breer said. Bucs officials told him Brady has had a closed players-only meeting. But no, Breer said, it wasn’t for Brady to call out anyone. It was team-building talk that Brady initiated.
This is very interesting to Joe. Why the change in personality?
It sort of reminds Joe of the information leaked last year; when the Bucs were negotiating with Arians to bring him aboard, Team Glazer had reservations. Arians wanted to delegate authority to coordinators Byron Leftwich and Todd Bowles. Team Glazer wanted Arians running the show and wondered if Arians was not fully involved, were they getting the same coach they were paying (handsomely) for.
This is what Joe is wondering about Brady. The new Brady, is that what the Bucs signed up for, or did they want a big brother type?
Or is Brady just smart enough to realize he’s no longer with the Belicheats? When Brady was in New England, the team already had a Super Bowl roster when Brady was a backup.
With the Bucs, perhaps Brady sensed everyone was so mentally beaten down by years of losing that his new teammates needed a confidence boost more than daily tongue-lashings?
September 1st, 2020 at 5:06 am
As long as it works… I am hopeful. GO BUCS!
September 1st, 2020 at 5:09 am
Just mellowing as he gets older..we all do it – hopefully.
September 1st, 2020 at 5:20 am
It’s only a matter of time before TB12 goes off on somebody. He’s been playing nice because he’s the GOAT, not an OGRE.
September 1st, 2020 at 5:37 am
This is like a manager at work. The first round of instruction is positive but become less politically correct if the same mistakes are repeated. The Brady that Breer remembers was likely tired of multiple corrections. I suspect we’ll see the same guy if old habits aren’t corrected.
September 1st, 2020 at 6:18 am
I’m sure it’ll be different on gameday. There’s a whole lot of getting to know each other going on right now. Chemistry isn’t always born of conflict.
September 1st, 2020 at 7:26 am
He just realized that this team under coach liar has zero accountability so he couldn’t come in yelling and screaming cause he would scare them all away. He is just working his way into it. After all he was brought into play, coach, pick the players, motivate and most importantly SELL TICKETS!!!!!!!
September 1st, 2020 at 7:43 am
The difference is he’s the new guy in town. So, he has to work this entirely differently than how he did things in NE. The players respect him, but they have to like him too.
Plus, he doesn’t have the same environment with Belicheat and McDaniels chewing him out like he was Rob Johnson.
September 1st, 2020 at 7:45 am
Wait until the mistake(s) costs them a game(s)!
September 1st, 2020 at 8:22 am
Most of the non canines seem to get it. He’s a professional acting professionally in a new environment. Not that hard to understand.
September 1st, 2020 at 8:31 am
He is called the GOAT for a REASON!!
September 1st, 2020 at 8:47 am
It’s not time to yell and scream. Brady is managing his expectations and the new personalities on the team. First establish trust, and rapport.
Build respect through teaching and leading by example.
The time for ass chewing will come soon enough.
September 1st, 2020 at 8:49 am
He’s still feeling his way through with his new team. It takes time to develop relationships and he knows he has to put some money in the bank before he can withdraw it later. After the Bucs get a few games under their belt, Brady will start to dish out the tough love to those that need it.
September 1st, 2020 at 8:59 am
Good analysis Joe and I would like to think its the latter. I think not having Belicheat looking over his shoulder at his demeanor when a player has a lapse of concentration is enabling Brady to be himself not the dictatorial person Bill Belicheat is.
September 1st, 2020 at 9:17 am
ndog
BA holds his players accountable wtf are you talking about?….
when the WRs were dropping passes BA called them out….
when VHG was caught loafing he held him accountable and cut him….
and when the QB shat the bed the final 2games, he held him accountable….
do you not remember?…..
Ndog Says:
December 22nd, 2019 at 9:17 am
No not a miracle BucFanDuh but we are expecting our franchise QB to not give the game away with ridiculously bad interceptions when the defense was AWESOME, the oline gave him time and the running game actually had a pluse. I am a huge Jameis supporter but I never BS, he was THE issue yesterday and yes we would have won if he just did his job, period end of discussion.
as you stated, JW WAS THE ISSUE!!!!!!!….and he was the issue on numerous sundays!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
September 1st, 2020 at 9:31 am
Thank god the cancer is gone and we finally have a true leader behind center.
September 1st, 2020 at 9:57 am
Tom comes here in the weirdest offseason in the history of the NFL. He has not had anything like it would normally be (and all of us too). There is no way he can come and go RAMBO on them. Because of the protocol followed, Tom did not even know where the bathroom was at 1 Buc palace until July lol. But as time goes, believe me, the Old Dog will begin to chew on somebodies backside again lol. Even Tom Brady, the newbie himself, knows he has to adjust some, and not blow people out off the bat. GOAT or no GOAT, if he is just a perfectionist jerk, it just does not help the cause. Talent alone does not make you great player. You have to be smart too, and Brady is the very definition of a great player. GO BUCS!!!
September 1st, 2020 at 10:30 am
Hopefully he turns from cheerleader to hardass pretty soon.
September 1st, 2020 at 10:42 am
Yes 813 I actually tell the truth unlike this pos “coach” who wakes and goes to bed spiting out lies that you lap up like a kitten drinking it’s milky. Thanks for proving it for the rest to see as I just call it like it is.
September 1st, 2020 at 10:47 am
He will whip them into shape its a strange no time for preseason games nothing but Brady will get them going and might be slow this year due to virus bull chirp but next year you better believe they will be ready for War! I still think they will do ok this year
September 1st, 2020 at 11:05 am
I think your closing comments are a fair analysis.
September 1st, 2020 at 11:11 am
813 If I could send you a few cases of Bromosa for the way you keep owning Ndog I would!
Flippin loser lost, said he wasn’t coming back. Being a Saints fan must have been too much for him
September 1st, 2020 at 12:16 pm
SB
no problem bro!!!!
its my pleasure!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
September 1st, 2020 at 12:17 pm
ndog
i just exposed you for the fraud and phony you are!!!!!
case closed!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
September 1st, 2020 at 12:18 pm
or shall i say: CAGE CLOSED!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
September 1st, 2020 at 1:29 pm
Lamb chop is mainly right. Even though he’s a 20 year vet and the goat, he is still new to town. He needs to build up that rapport that he had. I think we’ll see by week 3 that he will be much more comfortable yelling and screaming however much he needs to.
September 1st, 2020 at 2:13 pm
It’s not hard to figure out, some players need a kick in the butt some need a pat on the back. This team definitely needs encouragement to reach the level their capable of. GO BUCS!
September 1st, 2020 at 4:11 pm
When Brady settles in and becomes comfortable with his teammates and the games begin when things get tense and heated, I can promise you he will jump on somones ass this season.
September 1st, 2020 at 6:19 pm
Good article Joe’s. I still can’t believe we got this dude. Very excited for the season to begin and it will be sweet to not cringe everytime our quarterback goes back to throw. 😛
September 2nd, 2020 at 3:10 am
I hope the Glazers sign Brady for life.
He could change our organization over the next twenty years.
After he retires, we need to hand him a 20 year, 200 million dollar contract as Team President/ Co-GM/ Coach/ QB Guru
We need Brady’s energy for 20 years to truly transform our locker room and franchise.
Tom Brady: 20 year, 200 million dollar contract to be…
“The King of the Buccaneers”
September 2nd, 2020 at 5:49 am
I think you hit the nail on the head with that last part Joe. Brady is a smart man he had to of realized what many of these players needed was a confidence boost. It’s been quite some time since this team even had a winning record
September 2nd, 2020 at 1:16 pm
Teacherman Brady will always be a Patriot he will never be a buc . Sapp , Brooks , Lynch , will always be more of a buc than Brady will ever be . To say something like what you said about Brady is disrespectful to those guys . And look Brady haven’t done anything for the bucs but get yall hype for the season . He still has to prove it to me we ain’t the Patriots .