Tom Brady seems to be living one of his most intense personal moments, which is being reflected on the gridiron.
On the one hand, his imminent divorce from his wife Gisele Bünchen and the problems that this generates in his family. On the other -contrary to the image he has always given of being a guy committed to football and his team-, lately he seems to care very little about the Bucs.
In preseason he was MIA for 11 days, without practicing with the team. Now, the Friday before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game, he went to New York to party at the wedding of his former boss Robert Kraft (New England Patriots‘ owner), which caused him to miss Saturday’s Bucs practice.
He chose to party and reported late to the team
Brady arrived with the team until Saturday night, not paying proper attention to Sunday’s game. The result we already know: the Bucs lost 20-18 to the Steel Curtain.
CBS’ John Breech reported that Tampa head coach Todd Bowles is determined to make everyone believe that Brady’s actions had nothing to do with the team’s loss, in a game in which they came out as 9.5-point favorites.
“No, he didn’t miss anything. He had a full week of practice,” Bowles said.
But the truth is that Bucs’ offense looked out of rhythm, without answers for Pittsburgh’s defense, which wasn’t at its best. The Bucs’ 12 ended up completing 25 of 40 for 243 yards and a touchdown.
Tampa Bay reached the Steelers red zone four times, but could only manage one touchdown.
Brady went to wedding and lost; Belichick declined invitation and his team won
Regardless of what Bowles says, there are already several voices within the Bucs who seem to question Brady’s commitment to the team. He was one of several former Pats players who attended Kraft’s wedding, including Drew Bledsoe, Randy Moss and Vince Wilfork, all retired.
In the opposite direction was the decision of Brady’s former coach, Bill Belichick, who graciously declined the invitation to attend Kraft’s wedding. The argument the Pats coach gave for not going to the event was that he had a game on Sunday, against Cleveland. The result? The Pats easily won over the Browns 38-15.
“I’m sorry I missed it. I’m very happy for him (Kraft),” Belichick said.
Doesn’t matter, Bill. You won, and Brady don’t.
