Bruce Arians Refutes Report of ’Souring’ Relationship With Tom Brady

Bruce Arians vehemently denied a report that his relationship with Tom Brady was 'souring' before the quarterback's retirement.

In the aftermath of Tom Brady's retirement, there have been dozens of reports regarding what his future may hold—and what his relationship was like with the Buccaneers’ coaching staff on the way out. Head coach Bruce Arians is not thrilled with one he saw on Friday.

Rich Ohrnberger, a radio show host who played college football at Penn State and had stints in the NFL with the Patriots, Cardinals and Chargers, tweeted out a less-than-flattering report that suggests Arians and Brady didn't have a great relationship down the stretch of their time together in Tampa Bay.

While most outlets didn't pick up the report, it still seems to have made its way to Arians. Arians revealed to the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday that he's "pissed off" about the report.

Here are the tweets that Arians took exception to:

Apparently, while Arians was rehabbing the achilles in the early mornings, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and Brady would work on the week's game plan. Arians would later come in and take the red pen to work they'd done. The QB and OC felt undermined, there was tension.

— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) February 18, 2022

Arians refuted virtually everything in the report:

“It seems like there’s one [story] every day now,’’ Arians said. “Everybody is speculating he’s going somewhere else. That don’t bother me. This other bulls---, the relationship thing, that’s so far-fetched.’’

...“I mean, that’s such bulls---‚'’ Arians said. “That’s what pisses me off. I guess probably Byron could corroborate this, too.’’

“First of all, I don’t rehab my Achilles in the morning,’’ Arians said. “I will go over the game plans and add things, but I don’t delete anything. I don’t have to because they do such a good job.

“I’ll see some things. Add some things. It’s an awesome collaboration, one of the best I’ve ever been around.’’

Arians also said he'd be very surprised if Brady decided to return to the NFL, despite rampant speculation.

Brady, who will turn 45 years old this August, is coming off of one of the best seasons of his career. The seven-time Super Bowl champ threw for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions. 

Yet, for the moment at least, it appears he's done playing professional football. We'll see if anything changes in that regard in the coming months.