Though Tom Brady s removal from the Monday night massacre in Kansas City was more acquiescing than benching (sorry Drudge) there were a number of ways Brady could have reacted. He could sulk on the bench all night away from teammates in a cocoon of his own making or he could play the role of supportive veteran cheering on his teammates for the small victories on a lost night that might pay dividends down the road. Brady chose the former route.
Brady was pulled early in the fourth quarter after his pick six to Husain Abdullah. On the next drive rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo led the Pats on just their second touchdown drive of the night connecting with Rob Gronkowski on a 13 yard score. When the players came back to the bench after the meaningless touchdown all eyes were on Brady to see how he d welcome his supposed heir apparent.
(AP)
Ben Volin of The Boston Globe explains what happened next
Tom Brady gave passive high fives to the other offensive players coming off the field Gronk Julian Edelman the offensive linemen but stayed clear of Garoppolo. Brady didn t offer him any congratulations or daps.
When they returned to the bench McDaniels sat in between them Brady on the bench Garoppolo on a water cooler. The two quarterbacks didn t appear to speak. Brady watched the rest of the game silently with his arms folded with no teammate coming within 20 feet of him.
Tom Brady was nowhere to be found. (ESPN screenshot)
This is a bad look Mr. Terrific. Look we all know you re a competitor who hasn t had to deal with many on field problems since you took over the starting gig back in 2001. Accepting that this 2014 version of the Patriots may be the beginning of the end isn t easy it s like confronting your sporting mortality. And no one expects or wants you to be a good loser. That just means you re good at losing.
But we ve all seen how years of goodwill can be torched because of a bitter exit. Your time isn t up yet but it s coming. The best move is to keep fighting (the Pats are 2 2 in a terrible division this is far from over) while accepting the things you can t control like the inexorable march of time. Welcome the new guy with open arms Tom. Nobody wants to see another Brett Favre.
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
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