Owner Kraft once again all but points the finger at head coach
If you’re still wondering why Tom Brady chose not to re-sign in New England for a 21st season, to instead throw in his lot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two years, you’re sure not alone.
It’s still the talk of the NFL town, so to speak.
And for a second time this week, Patriots owner Robert Kraft on Friday as much pointed the finger of blame at his head coach and football czar, Bill Belichick.
Shortly following Tuesday’s bombshell announcement by Brady that he would not return to the Pats, Kraft said in his first interview, with Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston, that “this is not the way I wanted it to end. He gave the reason that “I just don’t think (Brady) was going to be happy staying in our system at this point.”
On Friday, NFL Network’s Foxboro correspondent Michael Giardi tweeted that Kraft, in an interview, “made this analogy about Tom Brady’s departure: ‘Think about loving your wife & for whatever reason, there’s something — her father or mother — that makes life impossible for you & you have to move on, but you don’t want to.”
There’s a first time for everything, and that might have been the first earthly comparison of Belichick to a mother-in-law, if not the first time someone has called him a compound word with “mother” in it. Ahem.
Then came this captivating little news-drop on yet another busy day of league news, from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport: The Patriots “likely would have done” the same contract with Brady, but “Brady never came to them with his desire to return. So there was no offer from (New England). In the end, only the Bucs and the Chargers made offers.”
That jibes with speculative reports from earlier this week, and especially with a riveting piece from Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, in which he strung together events since October 2017 and, with sourced confirmations, concluded that the departure by a miffed Brady was inevitable.
Miller theorizes with convincing evidence that Brady came to the decision he some day was going to leave New England upon learning in October 2017 that Belichick counter-offered HIM as trade bait to the San Francisco 49ers, in the hours leading up to the trade deadline. The Niners had merely inquired for the umpteenth time with Belichick that year about trading for Brady’s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo.
Kraft had to step in to block that attempted move, as has been reported but never confirmed by principals.
“A Patriots source confirms that’s how it went down,” Miller wrote this week, “and a 49ers source close to (GM) John Lynch says the first-time general manager couldn’t believe his ears when he heard the counter-offer.”
Belichick eventually did trade Garoppolo that month to the Niners, for shocking little in return — just a second-round draft pick. But the damage to Brady’s relationship with Belichick was done.
“Brady, Belichick and Kraft haven’t been the same since,” Miller quoted a source close to Belichick as saying. “Tom learned that Bill was ready to get rid of him. And that lit a fire under his ass.”
It also apparently lit a desire in Brady’s heart to leave Belichick high and dry at some point.
“Every move of Brady’s since that late October (2017) meeting of the Patriots holy trinity,” Miller wrote, citing a former Brady teammate as source, “has been preparing for this moment.”
Remember, that particular trade discussion in 2017 went down only eight months after Brady led the Patriots to the greatest Super Bowl comeback win in history, in a season in which he was named NFL MVP.
Who trades away the reigning Super Bowl MVP in the middle of a season in which he would be named league MVP?
That Belichick could even consider trading him away, even if he was 40 at the time, must have hurt the uber-proud Brady to the core.
“Belichick, Brady and owner Robert Kraft were left in a triangle of frustration that led to this week’s development of the greatest quarterback of all time leaving his NFL home of 20 years,” Miller wrote.
That Kraft keeps all but saying Brady’s poisoned relationship with Belichick is the reason he wanted out of Foxboro tells you the relationship between the owner and his top football man isn’t exactly in perfect lock-step, either.
Otherwise Kraft would shut up about the reasons for Brady’s bolting, to protect Belichick.
More on this is sure to spill out. It has been since fall 2017, beyond Miller’s column this week.
Perhaps Kraft’s view of Belichick in relation to Brady’s departure is similar to what the owner said several weeks following Belichick’s controversial, still inexplicable and unexplained benching of starting cornerback Malcolm Butler in the February 2018 Super Bowl — a narrow loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that prevented New England, it turned out, from winning three straight Super Bowls.
“So as a fan,” Kraft told reporters at the 2018 NFL annual meeting in Orlando, “I can question some of (Belichick’s) moves. As someone who’s privileged to be the owner of this team, I encourage him to keep going with his instincts and keep doing what he thinks is right.
“There’s no doubt in my mind, even if he made an error — and this is true of any of our managers — that if they’re doing it for the right reason, then I support them 100%. And I have never had one instance in the 18 years where Bill hasn’t done what he believes is in the best interests of our team to help us win games.”
And at almost any cost, as we have come to learn time and again. Even at the cost of disenfranchising Tom Brady at the zenith of his career.
Belichick is the greatest NFL head coach ever. But he works in mysterious ways, people.
Tom Brady and at a joint practice with Detroit Lions in Allen Park, Mich., in August 2019.
JOHN KRYK /
Postmedia
Brady contract details: It’s only $50 million base over two years
Tom Brady not only isn’t making $30 million a year on his new NFL contract in Tampa Bay, he can’t even earn that much with incentives.
Details leaked out Friday morning, shortly after Brady posted to social media a photo of him signing his new deal with the Buccaneers, along with a message saying the usual things about being super happy to be a Buccaneer, and can’t wait to meet his new team, etc.
According to NFL Network, ESPN and Sports Illustrated it’s a two-year contract, with clauses forbidding the Bucs to either trade or franchise-tag the former long-time New England Patriot.
The 42-year-old is due to earn identical remuneration in 2020 and 2021: particularly, a fully guaranteed $10-million roster bonus and $15-million salary, with $2.25 million in incentives for finishing in the Top 5 in the league in passer rating, TDs, yards, completion percentage and yards-per-attempt, plus another $2.25 million in incentives tied to playoffs and playing time.
In all, it’s a base $50-million, two-year deal whose earnings could rise to a maximum of $59 million.
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Serbia and Albania are set to co-host the men’s Under-21 European Championship in 2027 in a soccer project that aims to overcome political tensions.
UEFA said Thursday only the Serbia-Albania bid met a deadline this week to file detailed tournament plans. Belgium and Turkey had declared interest earlier in the bidding process scheduled to be decided at a Dec. 16 meeting of the UEFA executive committee.
The Serbian and Albanian soccer federations teamed up in May to plan organization of the 16-team tournament played every two years that needs eight stadiums to host 31 games.
Albania soccer federation leader Armand Duka, who is a UEFA vice president, told The Associated Press in May that “it’s a 100% football project” with “a very good political message that we can get across.”
Weeks later at the men’s European Championship held in Germany, historic tensions between the Balkan countries — which in soccer included a notorious drone incident at a Serbia-Albania game in 2014 — played out at separate games involving their senior teams.
An Albania player was banned for games by UEFA for using a megaphone to join fans in nationalist chants, including targeting Serbia, after a Euro 2024 game against Croatia. Fans of Albania and Croatia earlier joined in anti-Serb chants, leading UEFA to impose fines for discrimination.
UEFA also fined both the Albanian and Serbian federations in separate incidents at Euro 2024 for fans displaying politically motivated banners about neighboring Kosovo.
After historic tensions were heightened by the 1990s Balkans conflicts, in 2008 majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo declared independence for the former Serbian province. Serbia refuses to recognize that independence and considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood.
An Albanian fans group daubed red paint on the federation offices in May when the cooperation with Serbian soccer for the Under-21 Euros was announced.
“We did have a few negative reactions from fans, mainly, and some interest groups,” Duka said then, “but not from the Albania government.”
UEFA has shown broad support for Serbia and Albania under its president, Aleksander Ceferin, who is from Slovenia.
The next annual congress of UEFA’s 55 national federations is in the Serbian capital Belgrade on April 3, and an executive committee meeting in September 2025 will be held in Tirana, Albania.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s mayor has revealed the terms of the deal negotiated with the city’s pro basketball team for a new $1.3 billion arena downtown.
The agreement reached earlier this month calls for the Philadelphia 76ers to finance the entire project, with no city funding involved. There is, however, a provision that would let the NBA team make annual payments in lieu of taxes averaging $6 million per year. The agreement also calls for a $50 million investment in businesses, neighboring communities and the city’s schools to blunt the project’s impact, Mayor Cherelle Parker said during a news conference Wednesday night.
“I truly am proud having made this decision and negotiated an agreement that will definitely ensure that our Sixers are staying home right here in Philadelphia, where they should be,” Parker said.
City officials also released drafts of the nine bills and two resolutions needed to authorize the project, including measures that allow the city to acquire the arena property and change zoning rules. Parker said her administration would hold a series of town halls in the coming months where residents could discuss concerns about the proposal.
Team owners say their planned “76 Place” project would improve a struggling retail corridor near City Hall and capitalize on the city’s public transit. They also have vowed not to renew the lease on their current space, a circa 1996 arena in the city’s South Philadelphia sports complex, when their lease runs out in 2031.
The proposal has drawn significant opposition from activists in the city’s Chinatown area, who fear it would disrupt or displace residents and businesses. They say the city has ignored concerns that the project will increase vehicle traffic in their pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and force vulnerable residents — older people, low-income families and new immigrants — to move out. Parker on Wednesday renewed her pledge to preserve the area, which is just over a block from the proposed arena site.
If ultimately approved by the City Council, demolition work in the area would begin in 2026 with construction starting two years later. Officials hope to open the arena in time for the 76ers’ 2031-32 season.
Karl-Anthony Towns was born in New Jersey, went to college in Kentucky and has spent the entirety of his NBA career in Minnesota.
His roots, however, are in the Dominican Republic. And to continue paying homage to his late mother’s homeland, Towns announced plans Thursday to help build a state-of-the-art basketball training facility in that country, one where youth will get top-notch coaching and access to physical therapy, classroom space, meeting space and more.
Groundbreaking in Santiago, Dominican Republic, is set for next year, with plans calling for completion in 2026.
“I’ve been very fortunate to live the American dream,” said Towns, the four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection who is about to enter his 10th pro season, all with the Timberwolves. “But for me, having a different set of eyes, seeing it through my mother’s eyes and what she had to do to really even feel like an American, I wanted to bring the resources that we have here to there and give kids the opportunity to have the best equipment and the best chances possible to not only make money for their family but also pursue their dreams.”
Jacqueline Cruz-Towns died in April 2020 of complications related to COVID-19. She was the center of her son’s world, the woman who taught him about the importance of faith and family, sacrifice and hard work. The fact that this facility — Towns is partnering with GO Ministries and World Youth Clubs to make it happen — is going to be built where she’s from is not a coincidence.
“It was really important for me to give back to my community, a country that’s given me everything, gave me my mother and gave me this love of the game of basketball,” Towns said. “It’s given me the word love, both of family and understanding how to treat people.”
Towns, also in tribute to his mother, has represented the Dominican Republic in multiple international tournaments going back to 2011 at the junior level. He most recently starred for the island nation at the 2023 World Cup in the Philippines, averaging 24.4 points in five games.
This basketball facility is part of a complex that also includes two soccer fields, four baseball fields, covered outdoor basketball and volleyball courts and an educational facility. Towns said it has taken time to find the right people to actually execute the programs on the ground — he has known and trusted some of them for years — and now the “building blocks are set,” he said.
And above all else, his mother — who took him to church often and even when the family was struggling taught him the value of trying to help others — would approve.
“It is the safe haven for some of these kids who have found themselves in different situations and have a lack of resources,” Towns said. “To be able to give these kids a chance to dream and to really think of the dream — maybe they don’t make the NBA, the WNBA, professional baseball, become a professional volleyball player or a great soccer player — but now they get to dream. For them to be able to grow their life skills, their social skills, and also to learn how to have a passion and to be determined about something and have dedication, I think this is amazing.”
