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Two former Patriots took issue with ‘The Dynasty’s’ portrayal of Brady vs. Belichick
Brian Hoyer and David Andrews tackled the famous "Belichick or Brady" question on "The Quick Snap" podcast.
The Apple TV docuseries “The Dynasty” brought forth a dramatic interpretation of the Patriots’ two-decade dynasty that many close to the team don’t care for, including former Patriot Brian Hoyer and current Patriot David Andrews.
Naturally, the show also raised once more the age-old question people can’t help but ask themselves when the Pats are involved: was Bill Belichick or Tom Brady more responsible for the franchise’s success during that time?
Public opinion certainly swayed largely in Brady’s direction when he won a title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first year away from the Patriots while Belichick didn’t muster a playoff win without Brady before his departure this past spring.
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But former Pats Brian Hoyer and current center David Andrews, who both were part of those winning years, don’t see it that way.
“You can’t say the team would been the same with just Bill versus Tom, and you can’t say the team would be the same with just Tom without Bill,” Andrews said on the latest episode of “The Quick Snap” podcast. “I’ve even heard Tom say it. They needed each other, and they were a perfect match.”
In fact, Andrews suggested Brady’s success in Tampa Bay came in no small part because of the way he embraced Belichick’s teachings.
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“When he went to Tampa, [former Patriots guard] Shaq [Mason] was down there, and he’s like, ‘It’s funny hearing Tom talk like — not like Bill — but the same things that Bill believed in, Tom was trying to instill in his own way down in Tampa at times.”
Hoyer agreed, adding that Brady’s constant quest for excellence allowed Belichick to coach the team harder and even make an example out of Brady when needed.
“I’ll never forget after my first OTA … and [Bill] just starts ripping people left and right. Low lights,” the former QB recounted. And I’ll never forget this. Tom, the day before … he tries to throw it to [Wes] Welker on the seam like 30 yards down the field. And Bill’s like, ‘I mean, Brady, what are you thinkin’ here?’
“He was able to use Tom’s mental toughness to basically say, if I make an example of the best player, then I can make an example of any player. And, and everybody kind of fell in line.”
The difference was, of course, that Brady could affect the game from the field itself, Hoyer explained, while Belichick could only do so much as a coach. Brady, he believes, would’ve won “multiple Super Bowls” no matter where he went, but he might not have won seven had he not learned from Belichick.
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For Andrews, though, the “Belichick or Brady” question isn’t an “either, or” situation. It’s both.
“I loved playing for Bill. I enjoyed it. It made me a better player,” the Patriots veteran said. “Obviously being around Tom made me a better player. It was just the whole thing. There were no sacred cows.”
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