Tom Brady and Bill Belichick built the greatest dynasty in NFL history, but behind the six Super Bowl rings, their relationship was quietly falling apart. Now, a new account from author Lars Anderson reveals just how ugly things had become inside New England, with Brady’s wife Gisele Bündchen eventually confronting Patriots owner Robert Kraft over how Belichick treated her husband.
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In Anderson’s upcoming book, Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness, he details a late-career meeting involving Brady, Gisele Bündchen, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. According to Anderson, Bündchen confronted Kraft about how Belichick treated her then-husband.
“Gisele and Tom went over to Bob Kraft’s house late in his career with the Patriots,” Anderson said in an exclusive interview on Monday. “Gisele essentially told Kraft, I think she said, ‘Bill doesn’t treat Tommy like an effing man.’”
Anderson’s book, scheduled for release Sept. 29, was written without Brady’s cooperation. The author said he conducted more than 350 interviews with people who knew the seven-time Super Bowl champion while researching Brady’s career and the personal cost of his pursuit of greatness.
The incident Anderson described centered on Belichick’s demanding approach toward Brady. According to the author, the coach would regularly challenge the quarterback during team meetings, even after Brady had established himself as the centerpiece of New England’s dynasty.
“One famous anecdote is when he said, ‘Johnny Foxborough could have made that f****** throw,’” Anderson said. “And Tom took it.”
That dynamic apparently became increasingly difficult for Brady and Bündchen to accept. Anderson described Belichick’s treatment of Brady as a “slow-acting poison” that affected the quarterback-coach relationship.
The account is not entirely new. Jeff Benedict’s The Dynasty previously detailed a meeting between Brady, Bündchen and Kraft following New England’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Kraft recalled Bündchen making a similar complaint about Belichick’s treatment of Brady.
“I heard Gisele say, ‘That effin’ Belichick, he doesn’t treat my Tommy like a man,’” Kraft said, according to the book.
Kraft also recalled realizing how serious the situation had become and telling Brady that if he wanted to leave New England, he would help make it happen.
The tension had other layers. Belichick had also restricted access to Brady’s longtime trainer and close friend Alex Guerrero, who was barred from the Patriots’ sideline and team charter.
A meeting between Kraft, Brady and Belichick reportedly followed the Super Bowl loss. Kraft tried to ease the growing distance between the quarterback and coach.
Despite those issues, Brady stayed with the Patriots through the 2019 season and helped them win another Super Bowl. New England defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.
Brady left after the 2019 season and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He won another championship in his first season there, making his exit from New England even more notable.
Brady himself had acknowledged that Belichick was not easy to play for. In 2018, he described their relationship as respectful while also admitting that his coach’s methods could be difficult.
“He has a management style [with] players, and he would say, ‘Look, I’m not the easiest coach to play for,’” Brady said at the time. “I agree. He’s not the easiest coach to play for.”
Anderson’s new account adds another piece to the complicated relationship behind the Patriots’ dynasty. For all the championships Brady and Belichick shared, their eventual separation was shaped by more than what happened on the field.