Forever a member of the New England Patriots: Tom Brady

Tom Brady, who played for New England for 20 years, has joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although he is no longer a Patriot, he will forever be loved.

After 20 years in New England, it is Friday, March 20, 2020, when Tom Brady put pen to paper on his new contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers … and there are no hard feelings.

This morning, Adam Schefter reported that Tom Brady signed a contract worth:

"“2 years, $50 million deal, all guaranteed, that also includes another $9 million in incentives – $4.5 million in incentives per year. The contract also prohibits tags and trades.”"

Schefter mentions that the clause that prohibits a tag after two years may indicate that Brady wants to play beyond this contract.

With that being said, Brady’s time in New England has come to a close — but he will not lose me as a fan. I hope fans in New England can feel the same way as Josh McDaniels, who had the following to say about his long-time quarterback, per the Patriots’ team website:

"“I have never met anyone as demanding and relentless in his pursuit of improvement, perfection and championships. His work ethic and drive propelled our offense and our team to perform at the very highest level throughout his career. He represented all of us with class and integrity. We will miss his passion and intensity, his character and wisdom, and his preparation and diligence. […] He defined what it means to be a “Patriot.” He is the best quarterback to ever play in the NFL. I wish him nothing but great happiness and success in all that he does. There will never be another Tom Brady.”"

I was too young to appreciate the dynasty that Tom Brady created at the beginning of his career, with Super Bowls concluding the 2001, 2003, and 2004 campaigns.

It was Tom Brady’s second half of his career where I was able to witness his greatness game-in and game-out. Brady was the one who had me glued to the screen on Sundays, and when he was suspended in 2016 for four games, Patriots games simply were not the same.

I was fortunate to have Tom Brady be my quarterback for all but four games over the course of me being a fan. His passion, effort, and drive to keep proving people wrong is what keeps people infatuated with him.

Unfortunately, Tom Brady and the Patriots couldn’t reconcile the relationship that may have been frayed dating back to when the team first drafted Jimmy Garoppolo back in 2014. According to Robert Kraft, if Brady had wanted to come back to New England, he could’ve.

However, the terms that Brady wanted weren’t going to be met by the Patriots. Brady wanted security in his contract — something that would be demonstrated with the number of years on the contract.

He wanted help on the offensive side of the ball — something the Patriots wouldn’t be able to do given their cap space. Given that Antonio Brown wants to play with Tom Brady in 2020, and the Patriots would never sign Brown, that bridge was also burnt last year.

Brady got the guarantee he wanted from Tampa Bay, he has weapons in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and OJ Howard, and reports have been saying that players are now calling up Tampa Bay hoping to play for them.

Brady tweeted that he is “Forever a Patriot.” What he did in 20 years with New England we will never see again in our lives. He is the greatest football player in the 100-year history of the National Football League, and he will still be considered the greatest for the next 100 years too, I bet.

Words cannot describe how thankful I am for what Brady has done in New England, and I will keep wishing him the best no matter what.

Instead of continuing my soliloquy, I’ll give a run-down of my top Brady games (non-Super Bowls though, to make it interesting) of my recollection — games that demonstrate his passion, performance, and proclivity for the sport.