Patriots owner Robert Kraft called Bill Belichick the ‘biggest f***ing a***hole in my life’ and an ‘idiot savant,’ according to a new book which documents the unraveling of New England’s dynasty.
Author Seth Wickersham also claims in his book, ‘It’s Better to Be Feared’, that Belichick thought quarterback Tom Brady was past his prime in New England before the future Hall of Famer signed with Tampa Bay and won his seventh Super Bowl last season.
The book is set to be released October 12.
Spokespeople for Kraft and the team did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. A source close to Kraft told DailyMail.com that nobody from the team spoke to Wickersham from the book. That source also conceded that the 80-year-old billionaire did call Belichick an ‘idiot savant,’ but denied the claim that Kraft referred to him as a ‘f***ing a**hole.’
ESPN spokespeople did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s inquiry about the book’s sources.
Brady makes his highly anticipated return to New England’s Gillette Stadium on Sunday night as a member of the reigning Super Bowl champion Buccaneers. The 44-year-old will be playing New England for the first time since leaving the club as a free agent in March of 2020.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft (near left) called Bill Belichick (right) the ‘biggest f***ing a***hole in my life’ and an ‘idiot savant,’ while the decorated head coach privately thought Tom Brady was finished in New England before winning a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay last February, according to a new book. The two are pictured here in 2015 celebrating one of their six titles
Although Bill Belichick reportedly thought Tom Brady (pictured) was done, the quarterback went on to win a record seventh NFL title as a member of the Buccaneers last season
In his first time coaching against Brady, Belichick (left) will rely on rookie quarterback Mac Jones (right) this Sunday night in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Brady could set the NFL’s all-time mark for passing yards in the game, breaking a record held by Drew Brees
According to Wickersham’s book, Brady left the Patriots, in part, because he was upset that the team refused to commit to him through the 2022 season. He previously stated he wanted to play in the NFL until he’s 45.
Also, Brady reportedly had grown tired of having his input rejected in New England, and thought Tampa Bay would be more agreeable to hearing his ideas.
Ultimately, Brady decided he stood a better chance with the Bucs and head coach Bruce Arians, who has a more player-friendly reputation than Belichick.
‘Tom Brady had been curious if there was another way of winning, and while nobody was arguing that Bruce Arians was a better coach than Bill Belichick, or even close, the seamlessness of Brady’s proficiency and performance was making his former coach’s methodologies look antiquated, even silly,’ reads one passage, quoted by ESPN.
‘It was better to be feared — but was it necessary?’
Brady had sought a face-to-face meeting with Belichick before his departure, but his longtime coach opted for a phone call because he wasn’t available and simply spoke to the quarterback by phone, according to the book.
On Wednesday, Belichick was nothing but complimentary when talking to reporters about Brady.
The revelations were made by ESPN NFL reporter Seth Wickersham in ‘It’s Better to Be Feared,’ which chronicles the Patriots’ six Super Bowl titles and the dynasty’s unraveling over the last few years. The book is set to be released on October 12
‘Nothing Tom does surprises me,’ Belichick said. ‘He’s a great player, works hard, takes care of himself. He’s talked about playing until 50. If anybody can do it, he probably can.
‘Tom’s had an unbelievable career. There’s not enough superlatives and adjectives to compliment him on everything that he’s achieved and continues to achieve. It’s unbelievably impressive.’
And those public statements are nothing new.
Belichick previously called Brady ‘the best player the league had ever seen,’ but the book also claims that the quarterback had complained to friends about their deteriorating relationship.
The reports are surfacing ahead of Sunday’s game between the 1-2 Patriots and the 2-1 Bucs, where Brady will have the chance to break Drew Brees’s NFL record of 80,358 passing yards in front of his longtime fans. Currently Brady is only 67 yards short of the mark.
Brady will add that to his long list of NFL records that already includes most TD passes (591), most wins as a starting quarterback (232), most Super Bowl titles (seven) and most conference championships (10).
No quarterback in NFL history has played more or produced more in a single venue than Brady has at Gillette Stadium. Since first appearing there when it opened in 2002, Brady has made 157 starts in the regular season and playoffs there, winning 134 of them while throwing for 41,285 yards and 304 TDs.
Those marks are all records, with Brees ranking second in yardage (38,192) and TDs (301) at the Superdome, Brett Favre standing at No. 2 in starts (130) at Lambeau Field and John Elway ranking second in wins (104) at Mile High Stadium.
Belichick and Brady celebrate after beating Seattle in the Super Bowl in February of 2015
Publicly, Patriots owner Robert Kraft has enjoyed a good relationship with Belichick
Those are some of the many staggering numbers when it comes to Brady’s success and longevity. His teams had a 232-70 record in his starts, making him more games over .500 than all QBs outside of Peyton Manning (186), Favre (186) and Brees (172) have total wins.
His longevity might be his most impressive trait, as he is still playing at a high level at age 44 after winning the Super Bowl in his first year in Tampa last season.
Brady’s 11 TDs passing and rushing so far this season are tied with his most ever after three games, and his 1,087 yards rank fourth-most in his career.
Barring injury, Brady should, at some point later this season, throw enough TD passes to give him more in his 40s (155 so far including playoffs) than he had in his 20s (167).
In fact, Brady’s 115 TDs in the regular season and playoffs since turning 41 are more than every other QB combined at that age.
His 336 TDs since turning 35 would rank 12th overall, ahead of Hall of Famers like Elway (327 in his career) and Joe Montana (318).
Brady and Belichick will be the seventh Super Bowl-winning coach and quarterback duo to face off after they went their separate ways, with the most recent coming in 2008 when Brad Johnson and the Cowboys beat Jon Gruden and Tampa Bay 13-9.
The winning QB is 4-2 in the first matchup with his old coach, with Joe Montana topping George Seifert, Jeff Hostetler beating Bill Parcells and Troy Aikman besting Jimmy Johnson for the other wins.
Brady celebrates his seventh Super Bowl title with longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski (left)
Favre lost his first start to Mike Holmgren, and Trent Dilfer lost his to Brian Billick.
Belichick will be the 109th coach that Brady has started a game against and he has won against 99 of them, led by 12 wins against Rex Ryan. He has lost to 47, with the most coming against Mike Shanahan (five).
Their relationship has intrigued football fans for more than two decades now.
The two have been complimentary towards each other in public, with Belichick saying in 2018 that there’s no quarterback he’d rather have, and Brady telling Boston radio station WEEI in 2019 that he gets along well with his ‘great mentor.’
In 2018, however, reports surfaced of infighting between the two over disagreements between Brady’s trainer and business partner, Alex Guerrero, and the Patriots medical staff. Guerrero was ultimately banned from the sideline, but he and Brady jointly own a training center that sits near the Patriots stadium and practice facility in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
One ESPN report claimed Brady bristled as Belichick developed his presumed successor, Jimmy Garoppolo, only to have Kraft pressure the decorated coach into trading the young quarterback to San Francisco in October of 2017.
In 2018, however, reports surfaced of infighting between the two over disagreements between Brady’s trainer and business partner, Alex Guerrero, and the Patriots medical staff. Guerrero was ultimately banned from the sideline, but he and Brady jointly own a training center that sits near the Patriots stadium and practice facility in Foxborough, Massachusetts. One ESPN report claimed Brady bristled as Belichick developed his presumed successor, Jimmy Garoppolo (left), only to have Kraft pressure the decorated coach into trading the young quarterback to San Francisco in October of 2017