The Facts: Brady said he went into 2019 thinking it would be his final season with the Patriots and delved into his relationship with HC Bill Belichick in an expansive two-hour interview Wednesday on SiriusXM's "The Howard Stern Show." The new Buccaneers QB told Stern he didn't have any resentment that Belichick didn't make him a Patriot for life. "No, absolutely not," Brady answered, somewhat emphatically. "I never cared about legacy. I could give a s--- about that. ... That's just not me. That's just not my personality."
Diehards Line:
Brady was asked about the thought that he wouldn't have had success without Belichick, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2000 draft. "I think it's a pretty s---ty argument actually that people would say that, because again, I can't do his job, and he can't do mine," Brady said on the program. "So the fact you could say, 'Would I be successful without him, the same level of success?' I don't believe I would have been. But I feel the same vice versa, as well. To have him allowed me to be the best I can be, so I'm grateful for that. I very much believe that he feels the same way about me, because we've expressed that to each other." He told Stern "it was just time" to move on to another team. Brady told Stern that he didn't make his "final, final decision" until he told Patriots owner Robert Kraft on March 16, relaying that they shed tears during their in-person meeting at Kraft's home. "But I would say I probably knew before the start of last season that it was my last year," Brady said. "I knew that our time was coming to an end." And a new chapter begins, circumstances willing, this season.