Getty Bucs head coach Bruce Arians was not happy about the hoopla surrounding Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
Never one to hold back his feelings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians had some things to get off his chest after the team edged out a victory over the New England Patriots. Arians admitted he was “very, very frustrated” with the dominant storyline of Tom Brady versus Bill Belichick heading into the Week 4 Sunday Night Football matchup.
“It was a big week for him [Brady], but it was a bigger week for the team,” Arians told reporters on October 4 after the Bucs’ win over the Patriots. “I was very, very frustrated with everybody saying this was a quarterback and a coach. This is a team sport, the Bucs won this game alright, and we beat the Patriots and we lose insight that this is a team game.
“Everybody wanted to make this all about Brady and Belichick. I don’t think Bill [Belichick] played a snap. He had 22 guys out there playing their a** off, and I knew they would and we had 22 guys out there playing our a**** off. One of them just happened to be named Brady.”
ALL the latest Bucs news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Bucs newsletter here!
Arians: ‘Way Too Much Bull**** About Belichick & Brady’
Arians was fired up for a coach who just earned a victory on his 70th birthday. During an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Arians reiterated his press conference comments adding, “there was way too much bull*** about Belichick and Brady.”
“It really wasn’t for him,” Arians noted. “It was for us. We don’t want to lose two in a row—we want to get back in the first place. It just happened to be here for Tom. And Lavonte did a great job giving him a game ball after the game. But this game wasn’t about Tom Brady.
“This was about the Bucs and the Patriots. There was way too much bull**** about Belichick and Brady. This is a team sport, and our team beat their team.”
Arians on Bucs’ Win: ‘It Really Wasn’t for Tom’
The Bucs coach emphasized that the team was motivated to avoid two straight losses rather than to help Brady get revenge against the Patriots. Arians noted in his postgame press conference that the win, “was not for Tom” even if Lavonte David felt differently as he presented the legendary quarterback with the game ball.
“It really wasn’t for Tom, it was for us,” Arians explained. “We ain’t losing two in a row and we know it’s gonna be a tough game. But we’re back in the victory column and you know, the blessing is, it was nice for Tom.”
Brady was a little more candid about his return to Foxborough as the quarterback admitted he had a “few emotional moments” throughout the week leading up to the primetime showdown.
“It was awesome, I’m not surprised, I tried not to predict what was going to happen and how I’d feel and had a few emotional moments this week just thinking about all the people that have really meant so much to me in my life and that are part of this community, and I’m just very grateful for [an] amazing time here,” Brady explained in his postgame press conference. “And like I said, my football journey took me somewhere else but I’m really enjoying that and great to get a win, 3-1. I know, to make it about the game, but 3-1 against a really good football team tonight’s what we want[ed] to get done.”