Happy forty fifth Birthday, Fredo.
Excuse me.
Happy forty fifth Birthday, Tom Brady.
Brady was in communication with the Dolphins a couple of future function in Miami earlier than, throughout and after the 2019 season. The NFL dropped that bombshell Tuesday after a six-month investigation into numerous allegations made towards Miami proprietor Stephen Ross.
One downside, Brady was beneath contract to the Patriots on the time.
While Brady was enjoying with the Patriots within the current, he and his camp had been in communication with a long-time AFC East rival about his future.
That takes the cake.
Treason, treachery, or simply good enterprise?
Here is the official wording from the league:
“The Dolphins had impermissible communications with quarterback Tom Brady in 2019-20, while he was under contract to the New England Patriots. Those communications began as early as August 2019 and continued throughout the 2019 season and post-season. These numerous and detailed discussions were conducted by (Dolphins’ Vice Chairman/Limited Partner Bruce Beal), who in turn kept (team owner Stephen) Mr. Ross and other Dolphins executives informed of his discussions with Mr. Brady.”
Brady and the Dolphins additionally communicated whereas he was beneath contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout and after the 2021 season. They mentioned Brady “becoming a limited partner in the Dolphins and possibly serving as a football executive, although at times they also included the possibility of his playing for the Dolphins.”
The Dolphins additionally obtained dinged for speaking to teach Sean Payton whereas he was nonetheless beneath contract to the Saints.
Former Coach Brian Flores alleged Ross pressured him to recruit “a prominent quarterback” in violation of League tampering guidelines in early 2020. A Flores lawsuit claimed he and Ross met for lunch on a yacht when the “prominent quarterback” was arriving on the identical marina. Flores stated he refused the assembly and instantly left.
That identical “prominent quarterback” additionally “retired” in January 2022, although he remained beneath Tampa Bay’s contractual management. The “prominent quarterback” and his “prominent supermodel wife” additionally paid $17 million for a plot of land on Indian Creek island in Biscayne Bay in 2020 simply across the nook from Jared and Ivanka.
Confirmation that Brady flirted with the Dolphins whereas he was nonetheless enjoying for the Patriots will reverberate perpetually in discussions about how and why he departed from New England.
When Michael Corleone instructed his older brother Fredo that “you broke my heart” in “The Godfather II,” he might have been channeling his future inside Robert Kraft.
Those who’ve lengthy thought the worst about Brady and his exit from the Patriots have additional vindication for his or her place.
Hello, Bill Belichick?
Did Brady “tank” through the 2019 season?
No.
But was he 100% centered and did he give a 100% effort 100% of the time like he had accomplished up to now?
Doubt it.
Whatever Brady did or stated to the Dolphins doesn’t change the historical past of what the Patriots provided Brady contractually earlier than or after the 2019 season. It wasn’t practically sufficient.
Bradyphobes will nonetheless add this to Deflategate of their pleadings towards his GOAT-dom.
Brady wrecked Roger Goodell after Deflategate. After greater than a 12 months of fees, countercharges, and court-cases, Brady was sacked for 4 video games forward of the 2016 season.
Brady got here again in Week 5, gained 11 of the staff’s ultimate 12 video games, and would path 28-3 in Super Bowl 51 earlier than the last word comeback.
Immediately after the trophy ceremony, a TV spot for Shields MRI aired within the Boston market with Brady delivering a “Roger, That” tagline. That was additionally the headline of the following day’s Boston Herald. A duplicate nonetheless hangs in my workplace.
This 12 months, it’s Goodell who’s celebrating on Brady’s birthday.
Goodell now has his revenge. Brady’s character, at the least in New England and Tampa Bay, will take an simple hit. Brady/Patriots conspiracy theorists will dine on this for a decade.
Did RKK drop the dime on Brady?
Did Belichick mastermind all this by texting Flores on function?
Was Gisele within the grassy knoll?
Movie buffs shall be fast to level out Brady is much extra Michael than Fredo in actual life.
But a fantastic line is a good line.
Such is reel-life.
Fredo was triggered by stupidity, weak point, and envy when he turned on Michael. But Michael coldly ordered Fredo be despatched to the underside of Lake Tahoe with out scuba gear. He even waited till after their mom was useless.
Michael the Don was by no means capable of make the Corleone household reputable in 5 years, or 25 years.
Brady begins his twenty third season on Sept. 11.
The clouds over his title have solely darkened.
This scenario is eerily harking back to the “Brady Balls” press convention on Jan. 25, 2015, six days after the Deflategate scandal broke.
Brady wore a Patriots pom-pom hat. He had the wide-eyed guilt and deliberate speech of a 12-year-old boy who was simply caught downloading porn.
“Is Tom Brady a cheater?”
“I don’t believe so,” was Brady’s reply that day. “I feel like I’ve always played within the rules. I would never do anything to break the rules.”
Brady didn’t “break” the foundations by speaking to the Dolphins as a result of tampering solely applies to NFL homeowners and groups. Not gamers. Ross, Beal, and Brady are all Michigan alumni.
Brady was bailed out throughout Deflategate because of the Ideal Gas Law and Julian Edelman’s miraculous catch towards the Falcons.
This time, there’s no science to avoid wasting Brady’s popularity. And Edelman is retired.
Brady has a one-year cope with Tampa Bay.
You can get fairly good odds he’ll be enjoying for Miami subsequent 12 months.
Michael Corleone wouldn’t have it some other manner.
Bill Speros (@RealOBF) could be reached at [email protected].
Source: www.bostonherald.com