Tom Brady reveals ‘natural tension’ with coach Bill Belichick led to his exit from Patriots

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tom Brady has finally revealed that he left the New England Patriots because of Bill Belichick.

Brady played for the Patriots from 2000 to 2019, with Belichick serving as the team's coach.

Tom Brady reveals reason behind Patriots exit

In the Monday, March 24 edition of his weekly 199 newsletter, the former quarterback shared, “The reality was, after twenty years together, a natural tension had developed between where Coach Belichick and I were headed in our careers, and where the Patriots were moving as a franchise.”

“It was the kind of tension that could only be resolved by some kind of split or one of us reassessing our priorities,” he added.

This follows Brady's confirmation in the February 2024 documentary, ‘The Dynasty: New England Patriots’, that having 72-year-old Belichick as his coach wouldn't persuade him to return for a 21st season with the Patriots.

He said at the time, “Me and Coach Belichick, we did what we loved and competed for 20 years together. But I wasn’t going to sign another contract [in New England] even if I wanted to play until [I was] 50. Based on how things had gone, I wasn’t going to sign up for more of it,” as per Us Weekly.

Tom Brady shares why he played for Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

The seven-time Super Bowl champion also revealed in his newsletter why he chose to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.

He explained, “When Tampa Bay came into the picture as a serious option for me, all I did over those few days in March was assess and reassess my priorities.”

“I asked myself, as someone headed into their forties with school-age kids and twenty years worth of battle scars, what truly mattered to me now? What I ended up with was a list of about twenty things that I then ranked and graded on a weighted scale from 1 to 3,” the father-of-three mentioned.

Tom Brady called Bill Belichick ‘best coach in history of NFL’

The “natural tension” does not mean Tom Brady is not grateful to Bill Belichick.

After the head football coach at the University of North Carolina retired from the Patriots on January 11, 2024, the 47-year-old sports broadcaster paid tribute to him on Instagram, writing, “I’m incredibly grateful to have played for the best coach in the history of the NFL.”

“He was a great leader for the organization, and for all of the players who played for him. We accomplished some amazing things over a long period of time, many of which will be hard to replicate,” Brady wrote, before adding, “I could never have been the player I was without you Coach Belichick.”