Bill Belichick reveals 'the real greatness' about Tom Brady during Patriots tenures

The combination of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady famously guided the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships over the first two decades of the 2000s. 

New England's dynastic run began after Brady, the 199th overall pick of the 2000 NFL Draft, replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe as the team's starter in September 2001. During a recent appearance on the "Pardon My Take" program, Belichick opened up about what Brady was and wasn't across the first several seasons of the signal-caller's legendary career.

When Tom Brady began showing his "real greatness" with the Patriots

"He didn't lose games," Belichick said about Brady, per Aaliyan Mohammed of NESN. "He didn't win many, but he didn't lose them. We won them on defense, and we won them in the kicking game... and then by 2003, 2004, we won games with Tom Brady. Then, from 2004 on, not only did we win games because of Tom Brady, but every week, he was the focal point of our opponents. It was, 'We gotta stop Tom Brady, and what's our game plan to stop Tom Brady?'"

In Brady, Belichick found the perfect quarterback who fully embraced the so-called "Patriot Way" during the franchise's glory years of the 2000s. Meanwhile, Belichick proved to be the ideal coach for a young quarterback prospect that every team passed on acquiring during the 2000 draft on more than one occasion. 

Of course, it's now no secret that the working relationship between Belichick and Brady deteriorated over their final few seasons together before Brady left New England to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2020. Brady then led Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl title in his first campaign with the organization. 

Bill Belichick: Tom Brady wasn't always great

Debates about whether Brady or Belichick is more responsible for all that the Patriots achieved when the two were together could generate interesting sports-talk conversations for years to come, if only because nobody can say what would have happened had a different team taken a flier on Brady during the 2000 draft.  

"That's the real greatness," Belichick added during his comments about Brady. "When they're doing something to stop you, and there's a target on your back, and you're still producing at a high level. I always say Tom wasn’t great. He wasn’t even really good, but he became great."

Brady has suggested on multiple occasions in recent years that he became great largely because he had Belichick as a coach and a motivator. The two are now forever linked with each other, as a better coach-quarterback combination may never emerge in an NFL world that features free agency and salary caps.