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One player out of 89 remaining, less than 11 years after the first start of Brady's career. It's Brady and Bill Belichick against the world now.
"Well,'' Brady said Thursday afternoon, trying to figure out what it meant but not sounding at all surprised about it, "Matt called me a while ago and told me what he was planning to do, and I've called him every week since then trying to talk him out of it. He had such a great year for us. But there was no way I was going to be able to talk him out of it. He'll be a tough player to replace. But, you know, every year in this game, there's a lot of change.''
Except with one guy. One guy living a bicoastal life, married to one of the most famous women in the world, with two kids, and with a coach who's not very concerned with all of that stuff.
Who can know now, but it's going to be interesting to see if Brady outlasts Belichick. Because Belichick has been coaching in the NFL since Carlton Fisk willed the 12th-inning home run fair in the '75 World Series -- actually, he's been coach a few months longer than that -- and, amazing as it seems, Belichick is three years shy of 40 seasons as an NFL head coach or assistant. Not to get sidetracked, but this will be Belichick's 38th year as an NFL coach. Don Shula coached for 36.
Now, Belichick announced his new coaching staff last week, and it includes his son Steve as a coaching assistant. So Belichick, who just turned 60, will likely be around for a while to show the kid the ropes. But you get the impression talking to Brady that he'd like to be around longer than a while.
"My wife [Gisele Bundchen] said to me, 'When I met you [in 2006], you said you wanted to play 10 more years. How come that number never goes down?' It's that I love the game. I love the game. I'm going to play until they tell me they don't want me anymore.''
Coming off a season with 13 wins, a career-best 5,235 passing yards and 39 touchdown passes (second-best in his career), he won't be evicted from the lineup soon.
Personally, I think Brady will remain far and away the best option at starter for this team for at least another 4-5 seasons in part because this team did not and will not on Belichick's watch find itself in the same position the Colts did when an injury cost their QB an entire season. And had the Colts even managed 8-8 or 6-10 last season Peyton wouldn't be in Denver these days. Tom knows that theoretically it can happen to anyone, but until he gets passed on the depth chart here or literally can't answer the bell, it ain't happening here. And I think if and when that happens, he will think long and hard about walking away on joint terms vs. clinging to the hope these guys miscalculated...
Tom Brady has impressive*longevity; an inspirational tale; more league notes - Peter King - SI.com