It’s a public secret now that former NFL MVP Cam Newton signed with the New England Patriots. His contract will be valid for one year before his team decides whether to retain him beyond the 2020-21 season. But before that, a storm of controversy swept through the soccer community. It is related to the Sports Illustrated (SI) report that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady would eventually be a loser as a result of Newton’s signing.
Tom Brady, a loser: Really?
The report claims that Brady would be one of the unhappy men because his former club signed the 31-year-old 2010 Heisman Trophy winner.
The SI report says: “There is an emotional component to every quarterback that makes them want to be missed when they leave. Interestingly, the three typically revered quarterbacks as the greatest of all time – Brady, Joe Montana, and Brett Favre – didn’t have that luxury right away. Due to the cache of their replacements, the perspective took time to solidify. Montana was constantly cut and eventually replaced by the great Steve Young and Brady will now be theoretically changed by 2015 MVP Cam Newton. “
In fact, it is understandable and quite natural for any footballer to have the desire to be missed at the club where he spent so many years. For Brady, it was a long 20 years with the Patriots. In the midst of such an emotional journey, it was a rather unexpected event for the six-time Super Bowl winner to move to a new team in the twilight of his career.
“You want to see your ex fight”
On the “Undisputed: Skip and Shannon” television show, former Denver Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe spoke about the report. He said, “If you break up with someone, you don’t want them to be more successful than you. You don’t want your ex to catch someone, you don’t want them to level up. You want them to fight, you’re like … ‘yes, you thought you would do better, but here, look at you …’, you don’t want to see them (New England Patriots) make it to the playoffs, you want them to fight.“
According to Sharpe, Tom Brady would want the same for the New England Patriots. You may want them and Patriots fans to feel your absence. You definitely wouldn’t want club fans to suddenly forget about it.
Can Cam Newton really replace Brady?
With Cam Newton’s signature, Sharpe feels the Patriots could simply abandon their memories with Brady. However, it really isn’t practical for fans to forget about a player who has won the most Super Bowls, all with the Patriots.
There comes a time in the life of each legend when they must move on, but that does not necessarily mean leaving everything behind and living in isolation. Understandably, when Brady takes the field wearing the Buccaneers’ colors against his old club, Patriots fans might not support him. But at the end of the day, no one can deny Brady’s contributions to the club. He will continue to be considered one of the best players the New England Patriots have ever been with.
