One of the sillier mysteries having to do with Tom Brady is STILL a thing.
Let’s jump in the time machine. Back in 2020, the buzz surrounding where Brady might go next in free agency was at an all-time high before he took his talents to Florida to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and eventually won another Super Bowl ring.
It sounded like there were other teams interested, and a year later, when Brady appeared on The Shop, he revealed something intriguing: One of the franchises that was interested suddenly wasn’t, and Brady — in his words — thought, “You’re sticking with that mother[expletive]?” at QB.
People have been trying to figure out who “that mother[expletive]” is since then. And we’ve just lost one very big candidate … so we think we have the answer:
Here's what he said
This is from 2021.
Tom Brady on his free agency last offseason: “One of the teams, they weren’t interested at the very end. I was thinking, ‘You’re sticking with that mother*****?’”pic.twitter.com/JVVfNaGiUq
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) June 21, 2021
Ryan Fitzpatrick thought it was him, but Brady said no on a recent episode of his podcast.
"I still believe to this day that I am that mutha…" – Ryan Fitzpatrick believes that Tom Brady was talking about HIM when he delivered his infamous "that motherf*****" line during free agency 😂😂😂
🎙https://t.co/3qTZ4c9liF
📺 https://t.co/5criV2deLS pic.twitter.com/o2CeLGKeUf— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) September 13, 2022
Tom Brady just said Ryan Fitzpatrick is NOT the m. f***** he was talking about. So, there’s that.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) September 19, 2022
Why did everyone think it was Fitzpatrick?
The Brian Flores lawsuit against the NFL revealed A LOT of allegations. Among them: That the Miami Dolphins recruited Tom Brady despite the fact that he was under contract with the Patriots.
The Dolphins stuck with Fitzpatrick in 2020, so perhaps that’s what Brady thought? But NOPE!
So who could it be?
Well, let’s go to the talk recently about Brady and … the Las Vegas Raiders.
In August, UFC president Dana White said that he put together a deal with Brady and Rob Gronkowski to join the Raiders … but that then-coach Jon Gruden “blew it up.”
Dana White says Brady and Gronk ➡️ Raiders "was almost a done deal." 😳 #UFC278 pic.twitter.com/buWEXxi5Ho
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 21, 2022
Is that because ... the Raiders stuck with Derek Carr?
That’s what a lot of people think!
Its been completely obvious that it’s Carr ever since Dana White talked about Brady going to the Raiders https://t.co/vC867N4E5n
— Marcus 🫡 (@MookieShep) September 20, 2022
it was Derek Carr, and Brady was right to sound incredulous
— Ben Markus (@CPRMarkus) September 19, 2022
It was Derek Carr. Basically confirmed after the leaked report of the Brady + Gronk to Las Vegas deal fell apart because Gruden backed out at the last minute. https://t.co/uTycm5lzKT
— YardsAfterContract (@after_yards) September 19, 2022
I’ll quote former For The Win NFL writer Steven Ruiz, who wrote this in 2021:
Ever since Jon Gruden returned to the Raiders, there’s been discourse about Derek Carr’s future with the team. That was certainly the case last offseason, as Carr was coming off his sixth season with no postseason wins on his resume.
The Raiders were initially linked to Brady but nothing ever came of it and they elected for a seventh year of Carr … which ended the same way the other six seasons ended.
HMMM!
