On Tuesday morning, Tom Brady Sr, the father of Buccaneers quarterback and NFL GOAT Tom Brady, told Mike Greenberg that his son is returning to the NFL because he never intended to retire in the first place. Brady Sr said that reports and speculation about Tom’s future came while the quarterback was still trying to process the Bucs’ loss to the Rams in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs.
“The media made the news,” Tom Brady Sr. insisted. “He was not ready to make any decision.”
Later that day on WEEI, Merloni & Fauria dove into that claim with some real skepticism.
“So Tom Brady was peer pressured? Was bullied? That’s what we’re selling here?” Christian Fauria asked.
Mike Mutnansky, who was filling in for Lou Merloni on the Tuesday show, noted that Tom Brady has said in the past that his dad talks too much. He also said the number one rule of journalism should be to never talk to parents. Fauria responded that parents get wrapped up in emotion when talking about their kids, so they are sure to provide an entertaining answer, if not the right one.
“Are we to believe Tom Brady, who has told Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick to go screw, who has basically flipped a bird at the commissioner of the NFL, who is a titan of industry of sport, was bullied into retiring because Adam Schefter reported it?” Mutnansky asked.
Fauria said he did not believe that anyone could bully Tom Brady into doing anything. There was no peer pressure, but it is reasonable to think the way the retirement announcement was put together was an emotional response to what was being reported. If that is the case, it is easy to believe that Brady has some regrets.
During his appearance on ESPN Radio, Tom Brady Sr. specifically called out Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington. The two ESPN reporters were the first to report that Brady planned to retire.
Christian Fauria took exception to that. If Tom Brady was upset the news got out, he says Brady’s problem is not with the reporters.
“He shouldn’t be mad at Schefter or anybody else. Whoever is close to him, whoever is in his camp, whoever his crew is, really needs to shut the hell up, because those guys are the problem. Schefter and Darlington and whoever, those guys are just doing their jobs.”
