Last season and into thus NFL offseason, rumors swirled that there were issues between Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians and quarterback Tom Brady. Arians has consistently denied that there were any problems between the two, but the drama continued when Brady retired, then returned and then Arians retired as head coach.
Now Todd Bowles is the head coach of the Bucs, and people are still wondering what was really going on behind the scenes and that led to these decisions.
Arians, speaking to the Tampa Bay Times on Sunday, explained that his relationship with Brady is still great — so great the Brady is spending $50,000 on a retirement gift for his former coach.
“Tom just sent me a picture [Sunday]. He got a present for me. It’s a $50,000 watch. He says he’s bringing it to me,” Arians explained. “Who does that if we hate each other? As soon as he’s back in town, we’ll play golf.”
Arians knows rumors of an issue between the two will not disappear, but he says he is not worried about what other people think.
“It’s never going to go away, no matter what anyone says,” Arians said. “It’s a national narrative that they think they know, but they don’t.”
Arians has denied the rift rumors previously, saying, “Tom was very in favor of what I’m doing. I mean, I had conflicts with every player I coached because I cussed them all out, including him. Great relationship off the field.”
