The cracks in Tom Brady’s and Bill Belichick’s two-decades-long partnership had been splintering long before the quarterback left the Patriots in free agency.

It seems that Tom Brady’s tenure with the New England Patriots wasn’t always smooth sailing. Despite winning multiple Super Bowl rings alongside Bill Belichick, challenges behind the scenes may have contributed to his eventual departure from the team.

"The reality was," wrote Brady, "after twenty years together, a natural tension had developed between where Coach Belichick and I were headed in our careers, and where the Patriots were moving as a franchise. It was the kind of tension that could only be resolved by some kind of split or one of us reassessing our priorities."