After three days of what now seems like unnecessary drama, Tom Brady officially announced his retirement on Tuesday with a long goodbye on Instagram.
Within the series of eight images within the post, Brady explained that he could no longer make the “competitive commitment” for success in the NFL before going on to thank his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates, the team’s fans, the city of Tampa, team ownership Bucs general manager Jason Licht and head coach Bruce Arians, coaches, staffers, trainer Alex Guerrero, agents Don Yee and Steve Dubin, his parents and friends, and wife and children.
New England Patriots and Boston sports fans quickly noticed that Brady didn’t thank the team with which he won six of his seven Super Bowl championships and established his legendary career, nor the community that supported him during his 20 seasons in Foxborough.
That lack of acknowledgement offended some, particularly some Boston sports radio hosts. Scott Zolak and Marc Bertrand on 98.5 The Sports Hub were angry about it.
“This would be a massive F You to the fans, to [Patriots owner Robert Kraft], to anybody that helped develop him to the maniacal nutjob of a player that he is now,” said Zolak, a former Patriots quarterback (via Mediaite).
“Whatever his issues are with the Krafts and Bill Belichick, those are their issues. Should he have any issue with the fans of New England?” added Bertrand.
Zolak also noted that the photo Brady used in his Instagram post was of him in a Buccaneers uniform when Tampa Bay won in New England’s Gillette Stadium earlier this season.
Elsewhere in Boston sports radio, WEEI’s Gresh & Keefe seemed less outraged than Zolak & Bertrand, but noted that Patriots fans were offended by Brady’s perceived slight.
“He had to have known, I think, that this would become a topic,” said Rich Keefe. “There’s no way that he wants this to become the story.”
However, the two pointed out that Brady may have felt that he already said his goodbyes and gave thanks to the Patriots and their fans when he left New England in early 2020.
Regardless, it does seem strange that Brady only acknowledged his time with Tampa Bay in that Instagram post. If Brady ends up not addressing that, reading into that decision could fuel Boston sports radio for weeks to come.