Tom Brady might have left New England with a sour taste in his mouth, but he’s always head a special relationship with his OC Josh McDaniels.
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Prior to Brady’s return to Foxboro earlier this month, there was a lot of talk about the ugly side of his 2020 departure from the team. A book authored by an ESPN writer claimed that Brady and Bill Belichick clashed heads towards the end of their partnership and that, overall, there were a lot of problems within the organization.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen this type of claim being made. In May 2020, reports broke of Tom Brady and Pats Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels having a “deteriorating relationship”.
However, Brady quickly shut down the rumors on social media, posting to his Instagram story, “Please stop this nonsense! Please be more responsible with reporting.”
McDaniels backed up his former QB by releasing a statement which read, “I have so much gratitude for Tom Brady. He has made me a better coach and more importantly a better person. He has always been genuinely kind and caring to me and my family.”
In case the incident from last year didn’t prove that Brady and McDaniels get along well, this story definitely will. Before Brady left New England, it was McDaniels who was the one taking up a job elsewhere.
In 2008 when McDaniels secured the head coaching gig with the Broncos, Brady was rehabbing from a knee injury but still made sure to say goodbye to his coach.
Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady Have A Relationship That Goes Beyond Football
“When I accepted the Denver job at the end of the 2008 season, I hadn’t seen Tommy a whole lot over the course of the year because of his [injured] knee and all the things that were going on with his rehab,” McDaniels explain, as first reported by ESPN.
“So we’re on our way to the airport in Massachusetts to fly to Denver, and we still hadn’t connected at that point. I had tried to get him, but he might have been out of the country.”
“He calls while we’re on the way to the airport, and as would be typical of him, he talks about how he was going to miss our relationship, how happy he was for our family, and then he asks to speak to [my wife,] Laura. Laura is strong, independent and not overly emotional, but as she’s listening to him, the emotions start overflowing.”
“She had been fine up until that moment. He told her how much he loves our family, how excited he was for us, how he’d be rooting for us every game except for when playing us.”
“Tommy didn’t even have to call, he had been going through everything with his knee. It was just really representative, to me, the fact that I’ve always thought he was a better human being than he is a football player.”
Of course, McDaniels would soon return to the Patriots and win 3 more championships with Brady as his QB. In fact, despite his hiatus from the team, McDaniels was one of the few people to be a part of all 6 of the Patriots’ Super Bowl victories.
