Once upon a time, Tom Brady was the young kid on the block, surrounded by veterans like the one his team will face in 2025.
Tom Brady’s career, especially the beginning of it, is only getting smaller in the rear-view mirror. Getting ready to head into his second year with FOX, the former New England Patriots quarterback’s career is slowly getting relegated to the history books and the memories of players who played with him.
Today, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman have adapted their careers to becoming one of the key sources of recalling what it was like in the days of the 2010s dynasty. In Gronkowski’s case, his memories continue to his disappointing celebration with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.
However, their memories only go back so far. Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski only burst onto the scene in 2009 and 2010, so to them, Brady was the elder veteran. Whenever things got dicey against Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos and other AFC buzzsaws, Gronkowski and Edelman turned to him.
However, they claim Brady had his own ‘older brother figure.’
Rob Gronkowski talks Tom Brady’s ‘older brother figure’
Rob Gronkowski has spoken about the 2025 Patriots concerning how he believed the Patriots picked the moment to fire Jerod Mayo. However, speaking on a January 24 edition of “Games with Names, Gronkowski turned the clock back to the 2000s, claiming that Mike Vrabel was an ‘older brother figure’ to Tom Brady.
“Vrabel was like that older brother figure to Tom and we didn’t get to see any of that.
“We got to see the Tom where he was our older brother, and it would have been amazing to be a part of that crew. But we were just the second era of the New England Patriots,” he said.
Vrabel, of course, now is the head coach of the Patriots, standing where Bill Belichick did just 13 months ago. Brady, meanwhile, is standing with the Las Vegas Raiders as a minority owner.
The two shared a spot on the Patriots from 2001-2008, with Vrabel already in his fifth season in 2001. Brady was in his first starting season.
Tom Brady has one key strategic advantage against Mike Vrabel
Mike Vrabel now stands in Bill Belichick’s shoes. If things go well, he will earn some of the credit. However, if things go poorly, Vrabel could be left as the culprit.
Meanwhile, as a minority owner of the Raiders, Brady has the ability to point the finger in any number of directions.
He could point at Mark Davis, the majority owner. He also could point at head coach Pete Carroll. Beyond that, he could point at the general manager and the roster the general manager put together. In the end, Brady has plenty of ways to deflect blame should it come to it.
