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Tom Brady’s father: Robert Kraft admitted Patriots made this ‘mistake’
"We don’t all make the right decisions, but he’s made a hell of a lot of good ones over the years."
The post-Brady era has not been kind to the Patriots.
Ever since their legendary quarterback left Foxborough to sign with the Buccaneers, New England is nine games under .500 and has only made it to the playoffs once in four seasons.
And with the Patriots now staring at a long rebuild with a new head coach in Jerod Mayo, it’s clear that team owner Robert Kraft might have some regrets about letting Brady leave in March 2020.
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ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson reported earlier this month that Kraft privately expressed frustration about Brady’s exit — especially after Bill Belichick stressed that the veteran QB’s game was going to drop off at that stage of his career.
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Speaking with Christopher Gasper of The Boston Globe, Tom Brady Sr. stressed that Kraft echoed a similar message to him back in September.
With Tom Brady returning to Foxborough for a halftime ceremony during the Patriots’ season opener against the Eagles, the seven-time Super Bowl champion brought along plenty of family for the celebration. And during those festivities, Kraft acknowledged that Brady’s exit still stands as a tough pill to swallow.
“He just said, ‘I made a mistake.’ He told us that back in September,” Brady Sr. told Gasper. “We don’t all make the right decisions, but he’s made a hell of a lot of good ones over the years. But I know that it galls him that Tommy went elsewhere and won. Not that he won, but that he won after Bill (Belichick) said he was done.”
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Along with helping Tampa Bay win Super Bowl LIV over the Chiefs, Brady lifted the Bucs to a 32-18 record during his three seasons in Florida, throwing for 108 touchdowns and 33 interceptions over that stretch.
Now New England will need to forge ahead without a proven QB going into this offseason — while Bill Belichick remains on the open market after the team parted ways with him on Jan. 11.
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