Former Wolverine Tom Brady's New England Departure Had Mixed Reaction

Patriots' beat writer Devon Clements told us recently Tom Brady's decision to leave New England created a schism for Patriots' fans.

For the first time in 19 years, Tom Brady won’t be starting under center for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots when (if) football resumes this fall. 

Devon Clements, from Patriots Maven SI, joined Michael Spath on Inside the Huddle earlier this week to discuss what Patriots’ fans felt Brady would do this offseason, and if Pats nation will root for the former Michigan quarterback now that he is in Tampa Bay.

“Patriot nation did not expect Tom Brady to leave,” Clements said. “If you heard any smidgen whether it was from ESPN or any other media outlet that said it could happen, Patriots’ fans just shrugged it off and said ‘It would never happen. He will come back.’”

Brady has had a few disagreements with the Patriots’ organization in the past about his contract situation, yet they have always been able to work out a deal in the end, as Brady has never openly looked for a new home until this offseason.

“As we have seen in the past, with Brady whenever there has been a contract situation or some kind of disagreement with him and the organization it just took a little pat on the back and some appreciation towards him for Brady to say ‘Ok, let’s work it out,’” Clements said. 

“Over the past 20 years, he’s always been a team-first guy, which is the Patriot way, and everyone expected it to be the same way this time around, but it wasn’t.”

Now with Brady moving onto Tampa Bay, it will be interesting to see how Pats’ nation reacts toward their former quarterback, who is arguably the greatest player of all time.

“I, unfortunately, think it’s going to be a mixed reaction,” Clements said. “There is a little animosity for him leaving and an attitude of ‘He’s no longer on the team let’s move on.’ But an unbiased objective fan is going to sit there and look at the fact that he gave the team six Super Bowl championships, he had a historic tenure with the Patriots and he’s a class act.”

Clements noted that many Patriots’ fans may not appreciate how quickly Brady moved on from New England and tried to connect with the people in Tampa.

“I mean maybe Pats’ fans don’t like the fact that he went down to Tampa Bay and immediately started grabbing his trademarks with ‘Tompa Bay’ and ‘Tampa Brady’ and stuff like that,” Clemons said. “But he’s 42 years old, the end of his career is near, and he’s trying to help out his brand for his post NFL career.”

While there certainly is some anger from Patriots’ fans toward Brady for not finishing his career in New England, Clemons believes that will quickly die down for most of Pats nation.

“There is definitely going to be a mixed reaction from fans, but I think in the end when he starts playing and people see how happy he is they are going to side with him and be happy for what he’s been able to do this late in his career.”