History has seldom been kind to the supporting cast of teams with a clear lead. Thus, it wouldn’t be a surprise if, after a decade, most of us will be looking back at the Patriots and terming the dynasty as TB12’s heroics, overlooking the likes of Rob Gronkowski, Richard Seymour, and Randy Moss, among others. Therefore, we need to pay these legends their due respect irrespective of their popularity, and Bill Belichick, at the recently held HoF induction ceremony of Tom Brady, showed the world exactly how it’s done.
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Starting his speech at Brady’s Patriots’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Belichick first sang gospels on the positive impact that the QB’s strive for perfectionism had on the team. Brady routinely sparred against the Patriots’ defense, and vice versa.
It was no surprise to see the QB mostly getting better in the duel, but Bill Belichick noted that among the defensive players, Rodney Harrison was one underrated cog in the Patriots’ scheme of things. Therefore, he urged the Pro Football Hall of Fame to take note of the safety’s contributions and eventually induct him into the Hall of Fame.
“When you think about the defensive players that worked against Tom and I’m talking about the starters that were out there and took a lot of reps against our first team offence and Brady… you know [it is] Rodney Harrison who deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and I really hope he gets there,” Belichick said.
In a career spanning 15 seasons, Rodney Harrison amassed a whopping 1198 tackles in 186 games. What’s even more remarkable is the fact that among these, 907 were solo tackles. Harrison was clearly a defensive beast, and it’s quite baffling that he hasn’t made it to the Pro Hall of Fame despite retiring in 2008.
That being said, Harrison was truly a beast and definitely deserves a coveted HoF spot. But as Belichick mentioned in his speech, a huge credit for improving the likes of Harrison and other defensive players’ prowess was due to Brady. The legendary coach revealed that the QB played a massive role in helping the rest of the Patriots players reach the stature they have today.
Bill Belichick Credits Tom Brady’s Obsession With Perfection for Patriots’ Greatness
As Belichick’s speech progressed, the Croatian reminisced about how Brady gave him and his support staff sleepless nights after decimating the Patriots’ defense during practice sessions.
This put Bill Belichick & Co. in doubt, as they wondered if it was their coaching issue or if the players were simply not up to the level. But as time progressed, the head man realized that it was nobody’s fault. It’s just how good Tom Brady was.
“I can tell you as a coach who spent most of his career on defence, the number of times that I walked off the field with our other defensive coaches and we looked at each other and we were kind of shaking our heads a little bit like are we that bad on defence? Like we cannot stop these guys. Like are we that Bad and then you realize over time how good Tom in the offensive unit was and how competitive it was,” Belichick recounted.
But the Patriots’ defense, led by Richard Seymour, was a standout unit, and they took Brady’s constant dominance as fuel to excel. This led to a domino effect as Brady motivated the defense, and the defense improved, thus forcing the scout team to make the offense better. Overall, Brady’s insatiable hunger to excel improved every aspect of the team.
“Tom’s competitiveness rubbed off on the defensive competitiveness. It made Tom better, Tom made the defence better, and the scout team made the offence better,” Belichick continued.
It’s no surprise that Tom Brady inspired and raised the bar for fellow Patriots players. His dedication and aim for excellence every single day set him apart, and this is why he is known as the GOAT today.
