Tom Brady Recalls the Tearful Moment He Decided to Leave the New England Patriots

In a clip from the tenth and final episode of Apple TV+’s series The Dynasty: New England Patriots, shared exclusively with People, Tom Brady recounts the tearful moment he resigned from the legendary team. Brady was joined by Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who recalls the QB telling him, “I’ve decided to move on.”

Belichick continued: “And as soon as he said it, he started crying. And his crying told me everything I needed to know."

Belichick told Brady that the two should call the team’s owner, Robert Kraft, to discuss the difficult decision. “When Bill answered, it was emotional," Brady confessed. He went on to explain that his deep sadness stemmed from realizing that "a chapter” of his NFL career was “coming to an end” right before his eyes.

“And I expressed that to Bill, too," Brady reported.

For his part, Belichick was hardly surprised that the team’s star was departing after two decades. "I would say that's kind of what I expected," he told the documentary crew. "Saying goodbye is always hard," he mused, before adding that Brady "made the right and the best decision."

Last month, The Athletic noted that Dynasty is the first piece of content to illustrate “how bad things had gotten between [Brady] and Bill Belichick in the late 2010s, toward the end of their 20-year run together.” Brady’s ultimate reason for leaving the team for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers resulted from a contract dispute after the 2019–2020 season. Brady sought a $50 million, two-year contract which the team was unwilling to provide.

“Me and coach Belichick, we did what we loved and competed for 20 years together,” Brady said in an earlier Dynasty episode. “But I wasn’t going to sign another contract [with the Patriots], even if I wanted to play until 50,” he explained. “Based on how things had gone, I wasn’t going to sign up for more of it.”

Speaking in the tenth and final episode, Brady seems to have softened somewhat on his opinion about Belichick and the team. "Life is very imperfect, and relationships are imperfect,” he reasoned, “but I'm very proud of our journey."

In January, Belichick left his position with the Patriots after 24 years. His was the fifth-longest coaching tenure in NFL history. Belichick also holds the record for the most Super Bowl victories and appearances by a head coach, in addition to the most conference and division title wins.

The final episode of The Dynasty: New England Patriots premiers Friday on Apple TV+.