Tompa Bay: Tom Tom club

lexrageorge

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None of those guys were let go by the team. I don't know the answer, but did guys like Seymour, Vrabel, Law and Samuel take some parting shots at Belichick?
Seymour was pissed directly after he was traded, but seemed pretty happy to be with the team afterwards. None of the players you mentioned took any shots at Belichick, other than the periodic "I wanted to get paid" or "they never really offered me what I wanted" type comments, which happens with every single team no matter what.
 

BigSoxFan

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Seymour was pissed directly after he was traded, but seemed pretty happy to be with the team afterwards. None of the players you mentioned took any shots at Belichick, other than the periodic "I wanted to get paid" or "they never really offered me what I wanted" type comments, which happens with every single team no matter what.
Yeah, this just seems a little different from prior comments. And it's kind of weird since Belichick never takes any public swings at his own players. He protects them more than basically any other coach. And his mantra has always been "players make the plays".
 

OurF'ingCity

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The whole "Brady vs Belichick" story is just dumb, which is the only reason Shank will continue to run with it.
Yeah - the easiest way to confirm this is the fact that no one ever makes this argument with respect to any other coach/QB pairings. It's not a point of criticism that Bill Walsh had Joe Montana, or that Chuck Noll had Terry Bradshaw, or that Tom Landry had Roger Staubach, etc. - or vice versa.

I think this is just a different manifestation of the larger fact that Patriots hate is generally embodied in hate for Belichick because of his perception as a curmudgeon/cheater/"no fun" guy. Even during Deflategate, despite the fact that the Brady suspension was the most meaningful part of it, most of the coverage still boiled down to "there goes Belichick and those Cheatriots again" as opposed to calling out Brady specifically.
 

rodderick

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Yeah - the easiest way to confirm this is the fact that no one ever makes this argument with respect to any other coach/QB pairings. It's not a point of criticism that Bill Walsh had Joe Montana, or that Chuck Noll had Terry Bradshaw, or that Tom Landry had Roger Staubach, etc. - or vice versa.

I think this is just a different manifestation of the larger fact that Patriots hate is generally embodied in hate for Belichick because of his perception as a curmudgeon/cheater/"no fun" guy. Even during Deflategate, despite the fact that the Brady suspension was the most meaningful part of it, most of the coverage still boiled down to "there goes Belichick and those Cheatriots again" as opposed to calling out Brady specifically.
Yeah, I'm going to 10000% disagree with that one.
 

lexrageorge

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Yeah, I'm going to 10000% disagree with that one.
I think he's referring to a Wickersham article that came out shortly after Deflategate, which concocted a narrative about all sorts of shady things happening in Gillette, while making a laughable attempt to connect #DFG to Spygate and Gatorade-gate.
 

rodderick

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I think he's referring to a Wickersham article that came out shortly after Deflategate, which concocted a narrative about all sorts of shady things happening in Gillette, while making a laughable attempt to connect #DFG to Spygate and Gatorade-gate.
Even considering the Wickersham piece, there's zero question Brady got the brunt of the jokes and the criticism in that ordeal. No one was crying on live TV over Belichick press conferences.
 

lexrageorge

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Even considering the Wickersham piece, there's zero question Brady got the brunt of the jokes and the criticism in that ordeal. No one was crying on live TV over Belichick press conferences.
Shank eviscerated Belichick for the Mona Lisa Vito press conference, and continues to do so to this day. And Volin still thinks Belichick should have faced a significant suspension despite being exonerated by the Wells Report.

Brady indeed took most of the PR hit, and there seemed to be a bit of a lingering aftermath between the Brady/Belichick relationship after it. Between that and the Alex Guerrero fiasco, it seemed as if the die was cast for a less than harmonious departure between them. But sometimes there's really no one person to blame, no matter how much the media attempts to drive the narrative in that direction.
 

rodderick

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Shank eviscerated Belichick for the Mona Lisa Vito press conference, and continues to do so to this day. And Volin still thinks Belichick should have faced a significant suspension despite being exonerated by the Wells Report.

Brady indeed took most of the PR hit, and there seemed to be a bit of a lingering aftermath between the Brady/Belichick relationship after it. Between that and the Alex Guerrero fiasco, it seemed as if the die was cast for a less than harmonious departure between them. But sometimes there's really no one person to blame, no matter how much the media attempts to drive the narrative in that direction.
This thread is literally the only place I've ever seen anyone talk about Deflategate being worse/as bad for Belichick as it was for Brady.
 

OurF'ingCity

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Even considering the Wickersham piece, there's zero question Brady got the brunt of the jokes and the criticism in that ordeal. No one was crying on live TV over Belichick press conferences.
Yeah I probably stated my point badly. Let me put it a simpler way - I think most people who hate the Patriots hate Belichick, and their hate of Brady is just a follow-on from that. Which is why there now seem to be an abundance of hot takes that Brady’s success in Tampa “proves” that Belichick actually isn’t that good of a coach or some such bullshit.
 

DJnVa

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+1 but I was surprised by his BS snark today. Agreed don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
He "clarified" his remarks:

“I was a huge fan of Bill and the way he coached and his tactics and what he did to prepare us for the game,” Amendola said “I loved playing for Bill. But the fact that he also wore the GM hat, and I had to negotiate my contract with him three years in a row by myself and take pay cuts to help him and put rings on his finger kind of wore me the wrong way. So I felt like it was in the best interest for me to move on.”
You know, he didn't "have to" do any of that. He could have hired an agent and he could have not taken the pay cuts.

https://nesn.com/2021/02/danny-amendola-clarifies-bill-belichick-comments-is-definitely-not-anti-bill/?utm_source=thelead&utm_medium=email
 

BaseballJones

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"to help him and put rings on his finger" - Uh, Danny, he did it to help put rings on YOUR fingers too, you know.
 

BigSoxFan

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"to help him and put rings on his finger" - Uh, Danny, he did it to help put rings on YOUR fingers too, you know.
And BB was the one who gave Amendola his life-altering contract in the first place. And he set him up for the rich contracts that he received from Miami and Detroit. Does he get those same contracts without all those high profile playoff performances, which he admittedly deserves credit for? Seems like a relationship that worked pretty well.
 

snowmanny

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He "clarified" his remarks:



You know, he didn't "have to" do any of that. He could have hired an agent and he could have not taken the pay cuts.

https://nesn.com/2021/02/danny-amendola-clarifies-bill-belichick-comments-is-definitely-not-anti-bill/?utm_source=thelead&utm_medium=email
He had some great great post-season moments but I never really felt he was underpaid based on regular season performance, which was generally 60 receptions/650 yards/ 2 TD.

But most people think their boss doesn’t pay them enough so that’s fine.
 

Bowhemian

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Justthetippett

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Think he’s just making a point that it can be difficult to compartmentalize the business side of things, especially when Bill the negotiator is probably a real hard ass. That’s on him and, honestly Bill too, to manage. If anything it’s an argument in favor of a good agent.
 

lexrageorge

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Think he’s just making a point that it can be difficult to compartmentalize the business side of things, especially when Bill the negotiator is probably a real hard ass. That’s on him and, honestly Bill too, to manage. If anything it’s an argument in favor of a good agent.
Exactly. Agents don't get offended when the GM says "Here is why I think your client is worth X instead of Y". It's just a business negotiation to them; good agents can bluff and call bluffs without feeling themselves backed into a corner.
 

CantKeepmedown

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Him getting wildly booed prior to SB 50 (during the ceremony celebrating all prior SB MVP's) really seemed to make him embrace the hatred he gets. It was reported that he texted Edelman afterwards and said "Everyone fucking hates us! Let's win it all next year" Which they obviously did.

Now, I don't think he sits and reads comments on message boards or even twitter replies. But some of his posts (the stuff with Gronk after some big playoff wins) seem to imply that he's in on the joke. I think he loves proving people wrong and pissing people off. I badly want TB to win tomorrow just to see Chief fans (and many others) lose their minds.
 

brandonchristensen

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Is that in the category of I'm so great and comfortable in being so that I can make a tweet with me reading the worst possible shit being said about me and I don't care? Any opponent's message board would have that kind of content BTW.
It's a long running segment. They're just words on a phone carefully curated to not be that personal, just ad hominem for the lols.
 

Ralphwiggum

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The entire “mean tweets” concept on Kimmel is built around the fact that social media is a cess pool of awful comments even for the most beloved celebrities out there. That said, sports figures more than other celebrities need to be able to deal with crap from opposing fan bases because that’s the nature of sports. And of course Brady is probably the most despised athlete outside of New England so I’m sure he’s either completely immune to it, or maybe even uses it as motivation.
 

Average Reds

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Did BB force DA to sign the contracts? Did he handcuff him to his locker so he couldn't go to another team?

Sorry Danny, it takes two to tango.
The cap rules in the NFL plus the fact that most contracts are not guaranteed means that the (figurative) answer to your questions is "yes" and "yes."

Amendola had a contract with the Patriots. And every year, Belichick would inform him that if he didn't take a pay cut to free up space, they would have to cut him. Given how the system works and because BB had total control over the timing of any action, it gave him all the leverage. So, yeah, he had Amendola over a barrel, because DA wasn't enough of a superstar to have all sorts of roster bonuses and/or guarantees in his contract, which allowed BB to say "You can tear up your contract, sign for X and win as part of our team or see if you can hook on to whatever team has an opening when I cut you at the end of training camp."

That's not Belichick's fault, by the way. It's just the system the NFL has in place. But Belichick has been pretty ruthless in how he has used it, and he learned at the feet of the biggest bastard in the game. (Parcells.) So I don't blame Amendola at all for his comments. It's just the nature of the NFL.
 

brandonchristensen

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Brady has more SB MVPs than any other QB has SB titles.
To be fair, it’s rare that anyone wins the MVP other than QB. He won all of his except for branch right? Or am I forgetting one. Wait - who won in Rams 2? Couldn’t have been him.

Why am I already forgetting this?

edit
JULES
 

BaseballJones

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Tom Brady:

2014 (age 37): won SB
2015 (age 38): lost in AFCCG
2016 (age 39): won SB
2017 (age 40): lost in SB
2018 (age 41): won SB
2019 (age 42): lost in divisional round
2020 (age 43): won SB

16-3 playoff record from 2014-2020. Five trips to the Super Bowl. Six trips to the conference championship. Four Super Bowl titles.
 

BroodsSexton

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I havent watched Brady this year, but followed this thread a bit, and expected to see a different game yesterday. He looked incredibly comfortable in that offense, and — dare I say (though probably my imagination) — it looked like a a hell of a lot of fun for him to have an aired out offense with amazing weapons. About halfway through, I said to myself “he’s going to win another Super Bowl, isn’t he?”

If I were a betting man, I’d put money on it right now.
I wouldn’t. He hasn’t beaten anyone good this season except for Green Bay. They have feasted on a soft schedule and only one win over a winning team (Packers). Talk to me when he goes on the road and upsets a real team.
Well, he didn’t go on the road.
 

ifmanis5

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He'll never say it publicly but I'll guess this is Tom's favorite ring. The first one, Atlanta and Seattle are the only others that would be close I think.
 

Mystic Merlin

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He'll never say it publicly but I'll guess this is Tom's favorite ring. The first one, Atlanta and Seattle are the only others that would be close I think.
Watch his reactions after all of the four SB you mentioned, which, unless he or others he confides in actually opines on it, are the only reliable data points we have.
 

E5 Yaz

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He'll never say it publicly but I'll guess this is Tom's favorite ring. The first one, Atlanta and Seattle are the only others that would be close I think.
Atlanta, with his mom there, I think would be No. 1
 

CaptainLaddie

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Yeah I probably stated my point badly. Let me put it a simpler way - I think most people who hate the Patriots hate Belichick, and their hate of Brady is just a follow-on from that. Which is why there now seem to be an abundance of hot takes that Brady’s success in Tampa “proves” that Belichick actually isn’t that good of a coach or some such bullshit.
No way, man. Sorry for jumping in late here, but down here in DC area, it's absolutely Brady first, then Belichick.