Wolverine Watch: Brady Conceals The Fire — For Now

Tom Brady said all the right things. At the very least, he refused to say the “wrong” things, the hard things.

That’s not what you do at introductory press conferences. Everybody plays nice, and past irritants don’t even get a glance in the rearview mirror.

Brady’s a Tampa Bay Buccaneer now, ready for a new challenge with a chip on his shoulder the size of a tightly pumped football. New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft says if Brady so desired, he’d still be a Patriot.

“I’m not responsible for how other people will say certain things,” Brady offered. “Mr. Kraft has been a great influence in my life. I’m so grateful for those two decades. It’s been an amazing thing for my family. I’m sure when I’m done playing, I’ll look back and have a chance to really re-evaluate my entire career.”

Any evaluating he’s doing right now involves Tampa Bay — its chance for a high-powered offense, its improving defense, its commitment to winning. Brady will let others pick apart why he’s wearing Tampa’s soon-to-be-announced new colors, rather than red, white and blue.

And they do. Especially guys like Jay Flannelly, a former Schembechler Hall worker, most prominently known as Brady’s buddy, going all the way back to the football icon’s Michigan days.

Flannelly indicates if you think the Brady-Pats parting was amicable, he’s got some 2020 Final Four tickets to sell you. Here’s a sampling of takes from a podcast he joined on TheWolverine.com yesterday:

• “The Patriots didn’t want him anymore. This has been going on since around 2017, basically when they drafted Jimmy Garoppolo …

“It’s a divorce. He was in a relationship with the team and the owner for 20 years. In a relationship like that, things happen. Some of them are very public, some of them are very private. Deflategate — the Patriots and [New England head coach Bill] Belichick kind of threw him under the bus…

“Tommy wasn’t the original target of Deflategate … the original target, I’ll give you a clue. His initials are B.B.”

• “[Belichick] basically handed the Eagles the Super Bowl [in 2017], when Tommy threw for 505 yards. Bill just felt like not playing [defensive back] Malcolm Butler, and that worked out so well.

“Hold on a second, the Eagles just scored again…

“[Then-Eagles quarterback] Nick Foles should send Bill Belichick thank-you cards and half of his salary every week.”

• “The Patriots and Tommy had a contract in March of last year. You know who got the almost exact same deal last week? Drew Brees … because the Saints really wanted to keep Drew Brees…

“The Patriots had a deal with Tom, basically for $50 million, guaranteed. They screwed Tom at the last minute. He got pissed off, came back in August, they did the same thing, and Tom said, ‘Hey, take away the franchise tag.’

“Right then and there, the Patriots should have seen, wow, this is a little different. They just did not believe Tom had the stomach to leave…

“The Saints really wanted Drew Brees, and the Patriots really did not want Tom Brady. They now have to deal with it.

“They can put out all the billboards and say all the nice things and be cute. Mr. Kraft … you should have taken care of him. God knows, you’ve got six banners hanging in your stadium and a lot of fannies in those seats, that Tom Brady helped take care of, and you decided to side with Bill Belichick over your quarterback.

“I hope that works out good for you, because one of them has a resume. Bill’s resume is not that good without Tom Brady, and he’s going to learn that real fast.”

Despite considerable coaxing, it’s obviously tough to get Flannelly to say what he really thinks.

Brady wisely holds back in front of the mics, and lets it fly on the field. Flannelly lets it fly, period.

The take here involves the Patriots and Brady both suffering some at the end of the latter’s career. Belichick’s system, including some staunch defense, did a lot for the former U-M QB over the years.

Brady returned that favor with a half-dozen Super Bowl championships. All involved might feel a bit of regret come next January.

Not so fast, Flannelly cautions, despite Tampa Bay not making the playoffs the past dozen years.

“I love this fit for Tommy, for a couple of reasons,” Flannelly insisted. “The skill position people, [wide receivers] Mike Evans and [Chris] Godwin, two really good tight ends in O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate, a good running game, too, with Ronald Jones…

“Don’t be overly concerned about the defense. In the second half of the year, particularly the last six games, I think they led the league in a lot of defensive metrics. They were really good.”

Not to mention the fact that Brady’s motivation meter appears pegged in the red.

Flannelly and other Brady fans have switched NFL teams faster than an offense and defense swapping out following an interception. In fact, if Kraft finds himself channel surfing during the NFL playoffs next year (because his team isn’t participating) and tumbles onto Brady leading the Bucs downfield toward a game-winning score, it might produce some super-sized smiles.

Pitched that scenario, Flannelly delivered one more non-press conference take.

“From your lips to God’s ears,” he said.

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