Former Patriots player fans unnecessary flames in Tom Brady-Bill Belichick debate
By Jerry Trotta
One of Tom Brady’s former teammates proclaimed that the Bucs-Saints matchup is the most important game of his career.
This offseason might be in its early stages, but it’s already been cruel to New England Patriots fans from multiple perspectives. For starters, they lost a key member of their front office leave when director of player personnel Nick Caserio was hired as Houston’s new general manager.
Not only that, but the division-rival Bills won their first-round playoff round matchup and are currently favored to advance to the AFC Championship Game. To put the icing on this awful-tasting cake, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers are seemingly hitting their stride at the perfect time.
When it comes to Brady, we would all agree that he has nothing to lose and potentially more to gain from a legacy standpoint with the Bucs, right? Well, one of his former teammates, tight end Jermaine Wiggins, sees it a bit differently.
During an appearance on WEEI Radio this week, Wiggins boldly asserted that the upcoming Divisional Round matchup between Tampa Bay and New Orleans is the most important game of Brady’s illustrious career.
Jermaine Wiggins: This is Tom Brady's most important game of football career https://t.co/f1of4R4IGm pic.twitter.com/eSVvYu6CZJ
— WEEI (@WEEI) January 15, 2021
"“Because it’s all about he’s been tied to Bill Belichick and winning championships and winning big games for his whole career,” Wiggins said. “Now he’s in a position where he went to a place and the expectations for Brady and that team went through the roof.“You are now in a position where it is the divisional game, a game that everybody expects you to have won prior to the season starting. Now, if you lose in the divisional game against a team that has already beat you twice during the regular season and beat you badly, now you know what the national narrative becomes? Brady can’t do it without Bill Belichick.”"
We certainly understand where Wiggins is coming from, as losing three games against the same opponent in one season would be a new low for Brady, especially after he signed up for playing the Saints twice a year. However, calling it the biggest game of his career after he’s won six championships and been to nine Super Bowls (!) is preposterous, and that’s being generous.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1349484122402672645
Brady is already the consensus GOAT among objective football fans. Anything more he achieves would just make it that much more difficult for the next generational quarterback to supplant him as the greatest of all time. A second-round loss to the Saints who arguably have the most talented roster top to bottom of any team remaining in the tournament, would do nothing in terms of tarnishing his legacy.
We can’t even believe this needed to be cleared up, but such is life when folks insist on determining a winner in the Brady-Bill Belichick debate after their first season apart. Is it really that difficult to give it some time to breathe before we jump to nonsensical conclusions?
