New Book: Tom Brady Would “Divorce” Bill Belichick If He Could

The quarterback reportedly wasn’t sure about returning to the team this season.

Head Coach Bill Belichick looks on as Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots walks by during the AFC Championship Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Gillette Stadium on January 21, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.  (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
Head Coach Bill Belichick looks on as Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots walks by during the AFC Championship Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Gillette Stadium on January 21, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

A forthcoming book by ESPN’s Ian O’Connor suggests that the professional marriage Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have enjoyed for nearly two decades nearly ended this offseason.

After speaking with 350 people (excluding Belichick) for Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time, O’Connor suggests the Patriots quarterback has gotten sick of playing under his longtime coach and almost didn’t return to New England this offseason.

“If you’re married 18 years to a grouchy person who gets under your skin and never compliments you, after a while you want to divorce him,” a source told O’Connor. “Tom knows Bill is the best coach in the league, but he’s had enough of him. If Tom could, I think he would divorce him.”

As recently as March, Brady considered leaving the team but ultimately returned because the team traded away backup quarterback Jimmy Garappolo to the 49ers. Since the team made that move largely because Brady had said he wanted to play until age 45 or later, the 41-year-old quarterback felt obligated to return.

“But in the end, even if he wanted to, Brady could not walk away from the game, and he could not ask for a trade,” O’Connor wrote. “Had he retired or requested a trade, he would have risked turning an adoring New England public into an angry mob.”

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