Prior to Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots after the 2019 season, it had been rumored for years that the two sides were on the verge of a split. One such instance of a potential Brady departure was saved by a well-regarded throwing guru.
Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, throwing guru Tom House recalled an instance in the mid-2010s where Bill Belichick asked him whether Brady could continue playing at a high level into his late-30s or if he should be traded.
House said that he presented Belichick with a list of things that Brady did that indicated he could play until he was 45, and Belichick agreed not to trade him as a result.
Eisen clarified the question, asking if House was taking credit for convincing Belichick not to trade Brady and House said he was.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmJo_zcWz6I&w=560&h=315]
Bill Belichick clearly made the right choice. Between 2014 and 2018, Brady would lead the Patriots to four more Super Bowls, winning three of them to become the first quarterback to win six Super Bowls.
But after a lackluster finish to the 2019 playoffs, Brady left the Patriots in free agency to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he promptly one a seventh.
In the two years that followed, Belichick and the Patriots have gone 17-16, making the playoffs one more time but also bowing out early.