By Damon Knight, Tribune Correspondent
Its official, quarterback Tom Brady has agreed on a 2-year, $50M deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The deal is all guaranteed, and it includes $9M in incentives. “Excited, humble and hungry … if there is one thing I have learned about football, it’s that nobody cares what you did last year or the year before that,” Brady wrote.
Brady, 42, is leaving the New England Patriots after spending 20-seasons with the team and winning six Super Bowl rings in the process. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said, “Tom was not just a player who bought into our program. He was one of its original creators. Tom lived and perpetuated our culture. On a daily basis, he was a tone setter and a bar raiser. He won championships in three of his first four years on the field and in three of his final six seasons with us, while competing for championships in most every season in between. This is a credit to Tom’s consistency and what separates him. He didn’t just perform. He didn’t just win. He won championships over and over again.
“Tom and I will always have a great relationship built on love, admiration, respect and appreciation. Tom’s success as a player and his character as a person are exceptional. Nothing about the end of Tom’s Patriots career changes how unfathomably spectacular it was. 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.”
