Tom Brady's final season in the NFL has gone from bad to worse. The legendary quarterback may not be doing too badly with the ball, but he seems a shell fo his former self in a number of ways. His arguing on the touchline with team-mates and inability to stop getting hit have left many wondering why he returned.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, widely regarded as the finest player of all time, signed a new contract upon reversing his retirement decision, and it seems a hidden clause in that deal may well be the reason for his season going off the rails.
Brady's new contract gave him the freedom to take Wednesdays off, a sign of just how much power he has within the team. But as many have pointed out, a team can only be a team when everyone is pulling in the right direction and putting in the same amount of effort.
Wednesday isn't just any other day for NFL teams. Offenses take part in walk-throughs to fine-tune their chemistry together and get a hang of game plans. While the quarterback has defended having the day off, not everyone is so convinced.
"The fact that I've worked weekends for the last 23 years, I do deserve one day off a week so I think maybe, and I don't know if it's Wednesdays, but I get Tuesdays off," he said. "That's probably good enough for me."
The issue of Brady's work schedule came to the fore after he attended the wedding of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in New York - just days before a game against the New Orleans Saints.
NFL expert Bill Simmons tore into the former Patriots star on his podcast, saying: "He doesn't practice on Wednesday's. He f****** went to Bob Kraft's wedding on Friday night in New York City, they had a game on Sunday! Why is he in New York City on a Friday night, he's supposed to be the leader of the team!
"All the rules are different for him. He missed pre-season for ten days. Football is meant to be this team sport where everyone is on the same side, nobody is bigger than the team, he's acted like he's bigger than the team for ten months. I think it's an embarrassing year for him."
The Buccaneers sit with a 3-4 record, and although remain atop of their division, will be worried about the trajectory of their team after losing to two back-up quarterbacks in consecutive weeks in Mitch Trubisky (Pittsburgh Steelers) and PJ Walker (Carolina Panthers), respectively.
