Bill Belichick: It was a privilege coaching Tom Brady

[Pat Patriot]

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The relationship between Tom Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been scrutinized over the last few years and Brady’s decision to leave the team this offseason will likely lead to another round, but there was nothing but love from Belichick in a statement released on Tuesday morning.

Belichick called Brady one of the “original creators” of the Patriots program that produced six Super Bowl-winning teams and said that the two men “will always have a great relationship built on love, admiration, respect and appreciation.”

“Nothing about the end of Tom’s Patriots career changes how unfathomably spectacular it was,” Belichick said. “With his relentless competitiveness and longevity, he earned everyone’s adoration and will be celebrated forever. It has been a privilege to coach Tom Brady for 20 years. Examples of Tom’s greatness are limitless, going back even before he was drafted. We witnessed how he prepared when he wasn’t playing, how he performed when he got his opportunity, what he did to continuously improve, his leadership, his mindset, the example he set, and, of course, the person he is. I am extremely grateful for what he did for our team and for me personally. Sometimes in life, it takes some time to pass before truly appreciating something or someone but that has not been the case with Tom. He is a special person and the greatest quarterback of all-time.”

Now Belichick will have to find someone who can succeed the greatest quarterback of all-time and keep the Patriots on the winning track they’ve been on for the last two decades.