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There is definite sentiment in the Tampa media surrounding the possibility that Tom Brady was involved in the resignation of coach Bruce Arians. (Indeed, some naively consider Brady’s presence at Thursday’s press conference that everything is both good and dory between Brady and Bruce.)
A clear sense of Brady fatigue is emerging in the Boston media. It’s compounded by her perception that Brady ordered (or at least discreetly requested) the Code Red. A couple of Boston Globe columnists are now tipping Brady off on whether Brady took a non-personal, purely business approach to his now-former head coach.
Dan Shaughnessy had this to say in an article questioning why so many people are still firing for Brady: “Why are so many people covering for Tom? Watching the mindless ESPN gang ignore Tom’s fingerprints on Arian’s cold body (I think I saw a chalk outline of Arians on the sidewalk outside Raymond James Stadium) made my head explode.”
Former Patriots GM Upton Bell shared his views on the TB-BA drama with Shaughnessy. “This whole Arians thing was orchestrated by Tom Brady,” Bell said. “I don’t particularly like it, but he runs the show. [Don] Schula and [Tom] Landry and those guys used to tell me, ‘A player is just a player, but I’m the coach.’ No more.”
No more excuses for Brady in Boston. The Globe’s Ben Volin recently wrote a similar article. He claims that Brady “has become more confident in controlling his career in recent years after years of subservience to the Patriots.” Volin added, “It seems pretty clear to me that Brady either specifically told the Glazers he can’t play for Arians anymore, or the Glazers took the hint. Anyway, Brady won.”
Reasonable minds will differ as to whether Arians migrated or walked the plank. And there is enough evidence to support both conclusions. Some choose to believe Brady is not at fault. Others choose to believe that Brady got what he wanted.
In any case, it’s unprecedented for a franchise quarterback to end a 40-day retirement and then 17 days later, his head coach walks away with hardly a hint of disappointment or dismay at the player who had just ended his temporary hiatus from the game.
In a sport where there’s always something else going on behind the scenes, there’s one hell of a story to tell at the end of what really happened in two years of personal friendship and professional coexistence between Tom Bray and Bruce Arians.