“Tom Brady wanted the relationship Peyton Manning had with Tony Dungy”: Shannon Sharpe believes that Bill Belichick’s ‘old school style’ left his QB jealous of players like Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, and Peyton Manning

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are perhaps the greatest coach-athlete duo in the history of any sport. However, their success on the field has not always been accompanied by a personal relationship off of it.

Brady and Belichick spent 20 seasons together in Foxboro, during which they established the most successful dynasty in the history of the NFL.

They won all six of the franchise’s Super Bowls together and asserted complete dominance over the AFC West. The culture within the Patriots organization shifted to one where championships were an expectation, not a hope.

Their partnership was clearly effective when it came to winning football games, but it wasn’t so unbreakable off the field. This became clear towards the end of Brady’s tenure in New England, when stories which revealed tension between Brady, Belichick, and the ownership started to emerge.

And this notion of a strained relationship between the coach and his QB continues to be a relevant topic in the media. It was spoken about heavily when Brady left for Tampa in 2020, when the Bucs played the Pats last year, and once again when Brady officially announced his retirement this week.

He wrote out an extremely lengthy message to thank various members of the Bucs organization, but there was no mention of the Patriots at all, which many found to be intentional considering that he spent two decades with the team.

He did eventually end up thanking the Patriots and their fans, admittedly in a much less grandiose manner, via a few Instagram stories but there was still no particular mention of Belichick.

Shannon Sharpe believes Tom Brady wanted a more personal relationship with Bill Belichick

After a few days, Belichick did finally release statement thanking Brady (which can be seen in the Tweet below). The 44 year old reposted the statement on his Instagram story, calling Belichick “the greatest coach in NFL history”.

When you look at both the statement and the response from Brady, they have one thing in common. Both show that the individuals have an obvious level of mutual respect for one another but lack a certain degree of affection.

And this is exactly what Shannon Sharpe, Broncos HOFer and co-host of FS1’s “Undisputed”, pointed out. He said that he believes Brady always wanted a more personal connection with his head coach, perhaps achieved by playing golf together or going out to dinner with family.

But according to Sharpe’s theory, Brady could never get that because of Belichick’s old school, almost college football-like, coaching style which means that he chooses not to get too close to players because of the tough decisions that also come with the job.

Sharpe was almost certain that it left Brady feeling unfulfilled, and maybe even jealous of his peers like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, or Ben Roethlisberger who were always thought to have great relationships with their respective head coaches.

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