Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Finality Friday and Scho-Time Patriots Analysis - 3/20/2020

Episode Date: March 20, 2020

You tell yourself you’re ready for it...until it happens. Tom Brady is officially a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. However, the decision to anoint Tom’s successor in Foxboro has just begun. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Mark Schofield of USA Today’s Touchdown Wire. The pair discuss Jarrett Stidham’s potential, the Patriots plans for the draft and the continuance of Tom Brady’s legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, you are now locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. I'm going to show you how to make a beautiful and beautiful flower. I'm going to use a small flower pot. I'm going to use a small pot Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. It is Finality Friday here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions,

the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, and your feedback, always welcomed and greatly appreciated. I always love to hear what's on your mind, and you can send in those thoughts by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at

MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there taking a glance across the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. And of course, folks, your routine might have changed, but your listening habits don't have to. Don't forget, you can always listen to Locked On Patriots on your smart device.

How do you do that? Very simple. Just ask it to play the latest episode of Locked On Patriots. And you can always subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. Patriots fans, you can tell yourself you're ready for it until it happens. And on Friday morning, it finally happened. Tom Brady is officially a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. And folks, much like most of you, that will never sound right to me. But the reality is now a finality. The contract deals have been worked out,

the physical has apparently been completed, and the contract has been signed on the dotted line. Early Friday morning, Tom took to social media to post a picture of himself signing that contract, followed by the message, quote, excited, humble, and hungry. If there is one thing I have learned about football, it's that nobody cares what you did last year or the year before that. You earn the trust and respect of those around you through your commitment every single day. I'm starting a new football journey and thankful for the Buccaneers for giving me an opportunity to do what I love to do. I look forward to meeting all of my new teammates and coaches and proving to them that they can believe and trust in me. I have always believed that well done is better than well said, so I'm not going to say much more. I'm just going

to get to work. Followed by the hashtag year one and a postscript saying that Jack Brady, his son, with the photo cred. And again, folks, with that statement, finality set in. And that's why we're calling today's episode Finality Friday. Now, logistically, Tom's contract looks like this. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, it's a two-year deal, $50 million, all guaranteed. Let me repeat that. All guaranteed. That's a huge commitment from the Buccaneers to Tom Brady.

It also includes another $9 million in incentives, $4.5 million in incentives per year, and lastly, the contract prohibits trades and also prevents Brady from being saddled with a franchise tag. Now, the most common reaction across social media on Friday morning when it came to the details being put out about this contract is that it seemed like something on the surface that the Patriots could have worked out. Earlier this week, the Pats cap himself, Miguel Benzon, joined me here on Locked On Patriots and outlined a similar scenario. But folks, here's the caveat, and it is a big one. Tampa Bay ponied up $50 million in guaranteed money to sign Tom Brady.

Now, there were reports out there earlier this week that the Patriots did indeed offer a two-year extension for Tom last year. To be honest, there's still a lot of conflicting reports on that as to exactly how those two years would have been structured or whether or not it would have been guaranteed or very similar to a year-to-year type deal that Tom ended up signing. But even if they were willing to go the two years and maybe even agree to some of the stipulations in Tom's contract with Tampa Bay, which if I'm being honest, folks, I'm still not convinced the Patriots would be willing to actually entertain either one of those. But the one thing that I'm fairly confident in saying

is that I don't believe the Patriots were ever willing to guarantee $50 million to Tom. Now, a lot of you may hear that and assume that my argument is that, well, Tom chased the money on this contract. Far from it. This contract definitely pays Tom well. I'm not disputing that, and I don't think anybody would. But guaranteeing $50 million is a lot more important to Tom than the money that he'll collect from Tampa Bay. It's about the commitment. It's about the dedication that type of deal shows. That type of contract offer told Tom, we're in it with you for two years. We're not going to make you hit incentives to collect the full value of the contract. In short, folks, Tampa Bay was not about to let Tom Brady have to sing for his supper. Playing devil's advocate for a moment and assuming that the

Patriots did have a two-year contract extension for Tom on the table last year, they definitely did not guarantee the kind of money that Tampa Bay was willing to. Now, I will say that the team is certainly not in a financial position to be able to guarantee that type of money. But I think that hurdle could have been overcome. In my opinion, the way this deal could have been done is guaranteeing Tom that second year. I think that's the guarantee he was looking for, rather than the $50 million guaranteed. But the Patriots took a year-to-year approach, and whether I agree with it, or you agree with it, or anyone agrees with it, it is a decision that they've made.

And ultimately, it could end up working to their advantage. It also could backfire. We simply don't know yet. But regardless, folks, at the end of the day, Tom Brady is again officially now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And for the Patriots here in Foxborough, it's next man up. But who exactly will be that next man up? Right now on the depth chart, Jarrett Stidham is quarterback one,

as they like to say in the social media world. And from what I'm hearing, the team seems confident in his abilities. And although, like you, I've seen Jarrett in preseason games, I've watched him during practice a little bit, to give you the true analysis that you need when it comes to Jarrett Stidham,

I needed to call in some better quarterback insight than mine, folks. And yes, you guessed it. Today's guest on Locked On Patriots is my good friend and predecessor, Mark Schofield. And Mark's history scouting Stidham goes back to the Senior Bowl two years ago, when Mark had a pretty interesting conversation with Jarrett. We'll get into that, his opinion on what the Patriots' plans for the draft might be now that they're in the market for a new quarterback.

And last but not least, we will wrap things up here on the Locked On Patriots podcast by talking some Tom Brady, and hopefully Mark and I can send you off to the weekend on a high note. So settle in, folks, and I will be welcoming Mark in just a moment. However, before I proceed with that, I'd just like your attention, please. Yes, you, listening out there. If you've been a listener of this podcast, I'm sure you've heard all of the great advertisers working with Locked On to reach sports fans. But you may not know that Locked On Patriots is a great way for your local business to reach passionate Patriots fans just like you. Unlike

any other podcast, Locked On gives your local company the unique ability to reach local podcast listeners. Not just any podcast listener, a Locked On podcast listener. If your company wants to connect with Patriots fans and a predominantly male audience that is well-educated with disposable income, then let's put your company right here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Local fans love to support local businesses, so text the word advertising to 33777 or visit lockedonpodcast.com slash advertising and let us know who you are. We'll get our team to help your team achieve LockedOnPodcast.com slash advertising and let us know who you are. We'll get our team to help your team achieve Locked On advertising success. Once again, text the word advertising to 33777

or visit LockedOnPodcast.com slash advertising. We look forward to hearing from you. Patriots fans, today I would normally say that the Lockdown Patriots podcast has brought back the GOAT but you know that might only confuse you and anger a lot of you considering what we're going through this week but you know what it's still true because he might be a different kind of GOAT folks but my guest today is still the greatest of all time in my estimation he's no stranger to any of us. He needs no introduction. I'm going to give him one anyway,

because it's just what I do here on Locked On Patriots. Not only is he the host emeritus here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, he is an amazing writer and analyst for platforms such as Inside the Pylon, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, Pat's Pulpit, and most recently of Touchdown Wired. And that's just to name a few. His podcast, The Scosho, two words, must listen. That's right, folks. Today, we bless the reins here on the Lockdown Patriots podcast, and welcome back my predecessor,

mentor, and my good friend, Mark Schofield. Mark, thank you for joining me today. Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots. Michael, it's great to be with you. It's unfortunate we have to do it under these circumstances. We're all sort of locked down. We have nothing to do but sort of reflect on the fact that Tom Brady is no longer New England Patriot. And obviously, I'm sure we're going to talk about that a bit. But as always, it's great to be with you. It's great to catch up a little bit before the show as well and excited to talk

a little bit about football today. Absolutely. question and i thank you for taking time out of your day to join me today again we live in interesting times and uh yeah we're in a little bit of a different working environment than i think is usual but there's no shortage of being busy and you know that as well as anybody and i do appreciate you taking the time today. It's always great to catch up. And yes, my friend, we will start with the biggest issue in New England right now that is not related to COVID-19. And that is that Tom Brady officially, as we speak, is a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Early Friday morning, he made that official, tweeted out a picture, put it on Instagram of him signing his contract. And I know it was tough.

It was tough for me to see. I can only imagine how tough it was for you to see. But this week here on Locked On Patriots, Mark, we've talked about the past an awful lot, how we got to this point, what the catalysts were for this end result. And we talked a lot about our lasting impressions of Tom's tenure in New England, but the glaring issue here is that the Patriots do face a great deal of questions regarding the quarterback position.

And Jarrett Stidham, second-year quarterback, is the guy until further notice. And last week here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, Bud, I hosted Zach Blackerby of Locked On Auburn. We talked a little bit about Jarrett Stidham, and he shared some hypothetical insight on Jarrett's game. Some of it was positive, some of it wasn't. And he was particularly concerned with his mechanics.

And the problem with his mechanics can cause him to telegraph his passes, at least according to what Zach said last week. And you being the quarterback whisperer that you are, my friend, that's why I'm putting you on the spot with this one. When you look at Jarrett Stidham's game, knowing now that he is likely to be the starter and it's not guaranteed, and we'll get into that in a little bit as well, what is going to please Patriots fans about Jarrett Stidham and what could concern or potentially could worry them moving forward? Well, I think what's going to please Patriots fans is the development that he's made from when he came out of Auburn, when he came into rookie OTAs, rookie minicamp, and then the development that he showed during the preseason.

And I'll give one quick example of that. I'll try to keep it quick, but I remember a play he had against the Lions in that preseason game where they were running sort of a go flat concept to the right with a go route along the outside and a flat route from the slot receiver. And the typical way that defenses in the NFL have adjusted to that is to run some sort of trap coverage where the cornerback peels off the goal route and traps that out route from the slot receiver. You know, you try to bait the quarterback, make him think that he has that flat route and then jump it for an interception. But Detroit ran what we call sort of a cougar coverage where it's not just the cornerback sort of back pedals and keeps his eyes directly on

the quarterback and then jumps the route he actually might runs a full man turn so he turns and runs with him with his back to the qb but he tries to peer over his inside shoulder to read the quarterback and if he does see that flat route then he breaks off and jumps it it's a very hard read for the quarterback because everything you're taught is telling you that that corner is vacated in the flat. You can throw that quick out route to your slot receiver. Well, that's what they do on this play. That corner executes that man turn.

He is running. He is sprinted dead on with that vertical route with his back to Jared Stidham. Stidham starts to throw that slot route out route to the flat. He sees that corner peel off and start to trap it. And he pulls it down and runs for like six yards. And it might seem like nothing, but that is a really tough read for veteran quarterbacks to make. And Stidham's reading it as a rookie in one of his first preseason games. And when I saw that, all of the concerns that I had about sort of the offense he was in at Auburn kind of melted away for me because that was such a veteran savvy read and diagnosis of a defense that I felt much better about where Stidham is.

And I will also say this. Stidham wasn't done any favors by the Baylor offense he was in originally and then the Auburn offense he was in, but favors by the Baylor offense he was in originally. And then the Auburn offense he was in, but doubted the senior bowl when he was in Kyle Shanahan system, he looked every bit the part of a pro quarterback. And I remember getting a chance to talk to him at the senior bowl. And I asked him what was his favorite route concept to run that week. And he said, he just laughed at me, Mike. And he looked at me, he said, all of them, which told me that he was also aware of the fact that he wasn't done any favors by those two offenses. Now he's in a pro system. Everything was great to him. He ran it extremely well.

And as for the mechanical issues, which, you know, the lockdown Auburn host was exactly right. Like there were mechanical issues at Auburn. He's working, you know, with Jordan Palmer's group. You know, you see the Instagram videos all the time of him with Burrow with Donald they're always working on their mechanics there are even some funny blooper type videos there was one where he was doing sort of a ladder drill with his footwork and his feet sort of got tangled up in the rope ladder that was on the on the turf and he still fought through it and made a throw and everybody was sort of laughing but you see the progress in his mechanics and when I was asking him about it the work he was doing with jordan palmer getting ready you know he was

talking about tightening up the throw in motion and keeping everything compact and sort of tightening up his footwork as well i think that the patriots plan here is like you said it's jared stidham and the development that he has made so far that's what's going to make patriots fans excited about his potential and excellent insight and exactly the insight that I was looking for knowing the information that you could bring because of your experience and uh speaking with Jarrett and being able to absorb what he had to uh to offer in the senior bowl last year is insight that only you can provide and quite honestly my friend other than the fact that you know you are a friend of mine and we love talking football together uh that type of insight is something that only you can provide. And quite honestly my friend. Other than the fact that you are a friend of mine. And we love talking football together. That type of insight is something that only you can.

Treat it's nation right now. You don't move on from the greatest quarterback of all time. Who's been the rock of your foundation. The cornerstone for the last 20 years. Without having some apprehension moving forward. From what I saw in Jarrett last year. I am confident that he'll be able to do. What he needs to do to keep this offensive float.

Is he going to be Tom right off the bat? No, he can't be expected to be. And those types of expectations, folks, are going to be a little bit unfair to put on any quarterback that takes snaps under center in New England next year. And that kind of lends me very nicely into the next question that I have for you, my friend. And in addition to being a quarterback whisperer, you're also a draft whisperer as well. And some of the insight that you provide is, to me, second to none. The last time you were here on Locked On Patriots, we talked about the combine and we talked about potential fits at quarterback and what the Patriots might do. And though we danced around the subject of Tom departing from Foxborough,

we kind of agreed that their strategy would be more tailor-made if he was returning to Foxborough. Well, we know now that that's not the case, and he will not be in Foxborough next year. He will be in Tampa, and I'll get to that in just a moment as well. But when you look at the Patriots draft strategy, we've talked about quarterbacks like Cole McDonald out of Hawaii and Jalen Hurts and Jake Fromm out of Georgia and these guys that might be project-type quarterbacks

that the Patriots could take in the middle part of the draft and be able to develop them and hopefully be able to learn from the greatest of all time. Now that they don't have that luxury, do you believe their draft strategy has changed? Could we see something out of the ordinary from Bill Belichick this year? I think it's possible, Mike. I'm not sure that I would say it's probable. I mean, you look at the fact that, and everybody rightfully so, is focused on Tom Brady going to Tampa Bay. And given that he has been a mainstay

in this organization, the quarterback and the greatest of all time at that position, you know, the obvious natural inclination is to think they have to address quarterback. They've got to fix it. They've got to get a guy. But then you have to sort of take a step back and look at some of the other departures. You're talking about a team that has lost Kyle Van Nooyen, Jamie Collins at the linebacker spots. You've lost to Ron Harmon. You've lost to Landon Roberts, a backup linebacker, a reserve player there.

It seems like they're losing perhaps James Devlin to retirement, although Danny Vitale, a guy that I loved coming out of Northwestern, might be in the mix there. But they still have obviously a black hole at the tight end position. They have weaknesses up and down this roster. And so I think that, again, makes me believe that the plan right here is Jarrett Stidham to see what they have in him. But if something happens in this draft and somebody falls to them at 23 or close enough to them at 23 that they have graded at the top of their quarterback

board, I think they probably do draft that player. Because let's not forget, Bill Belichick always says you take the best players. You take the best players that are available when it's your turn to make a pick. And coming into free agency, I might have told you that all five of the top tier quarterbacks would have been gone by the time the Patriots were on the clock at 23. Well, that's changed now. You know, you look at Carolina, they might not go quarterback at seven. They just signed Teddy Bridgewater. You look at the Las Vegas Raiders, they're probably not going quarterback. They bring back Carr and they brought in Marcus Mariota. You know, Indianapolis was in the mix of drafting a quarterback 13. They traded out of that spot. I don't think the 49ers traded up to 13 to draft a quarterback.

You know, Tampa Bay, I don't think they're drafting a QB now at 14. They're drafting somebody that's going to help Tom Brady next year or the year after. They're not drafting their quarterback replacement for Tom Brady after just getting Tom Brady. So we might start to see some of these guys slide down the board a bit. And so it might mean a situation where, you know, you get down to a team like Atlanta at 16, a team like, you know, maybe the Raiders at 19, maybe Philly at 21. Teams that might have some other needs don't feel like they have to force a pick there. They could trade out. Perhaps New England could trade up there, or they could sit there at 23 and a guy like Jacob Beeson or Jordan Love falls into their lap.

And it's an opportunity that you can't pass up. You know, a lot of people, myself included, think that they roll with Stidham. They see what they have in him. And if things go horribly, you know, they finish what, like four and 12 or something. And they're in the mix for Trevor Lawrence next year. It could happen. But if you get a chance to draft the next guy now and get him in, and get him a year under that belt, I think that's an opportunity worth exploring. And I think, again, great insight, and exactly the type of insight that I was looking for. My contention all along has been that the Patriots would look to either the offensive line for help in the first round or they would look to the linebacker position and we've talked about guys

before you mentioned Cesar Ruiz and gushed over him quite often um them franchising Joe Tooney now I don't know if that throws a wrench into those plans I don't know if they're still planning on trying to bring Joe back and try to work out a long-term deal uh there is the possibility that he might be traded. If he is, I think O-line is a good spot for the Patriots to look. Linebacker, obviously, the cupboard's looking a little bit bare at that position at the moment. We've mentioned guys like A.J. Epinenza and even, you know, Queen. You know, these guys are in the mix for the possibility.

And I think to fill those holes, like you said earlier, is definitely their strategy. Unless something out of the ordinary falls to them, I don't think they're going to make a move to try to acquire a quarterback. And it sounds like you're like-minded as well. So, again, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we're probably looking at Jarrett Stidham and seeing what the kid has to offer. And I think right now, I think that's probably the most prudent course of action unless things change drastically. Well, Mark, we've kind of danced around it a little bit and talked about what this is going to look like in New England moving forward. And again, I think you've given some great insight as to what we can expect at the quarterback position. But unfortunately, the one we're leaving behind is an indelible part of New England sports. I think an indelible part

of New England culture for the past 20 years. I think Tom Brady is one of those athletes that transcends just professional sports. He has been an icon here and he will continue to be missed sorely. He moves on to Tampa Bay and a lot of people have said this is a hand in glove fit for him. He's going to a coach in Bruce Arians that is very adept at being able to handle big-time quarterbacks. We've seen him handle Manning and Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck and Carson Palmer, just to name a couple. He's getting, quote-unquote, the offensive weapons that he has so richly coveted the last few years in his receivers, like Evans and Perriman and, and I know Jay Howard and Cameron Brate at the tight end position, but there's also some baggage that Tom brings with

him from last year. And a lot of that is being attributed to his supporting cast. But one thing that always caught my eye about Tom last year, that was a concern and could be a concern of mine if you continue to be a Brady fan and you look at how Tampa Bay is constituted is the O-line's ability to protect him, particularly in the red zone. in last year that maybe it wasn't so much about everything around him but in my estimation it looked like he struggled in that independently um his qbr was just 20.5 which is less than half of his previous low of the decade and at 49.4 the third worst mark in the league that to me is very unbrady like uh of course a lot of that is because he's missing rob gronkowski and i don't want to downplay that at all. But his average pass in the red zone, Mark, traveled just 3.5 yards in the air, and that suggested to me that he was frequently checking down against defenses

who were able to cover his receivers in the end zone. When you look at the offensive line of Tampa Bay, that might be their Achilles heel, although it looks like they're trying to add bodies at that stretch. Is Tom poised to be much better this year in the red zone because of the supporting cast he has around him? Or could this be an issue for Tom in Tampa Bay like it was in New England last year? You know, it's a fascinating question, Mike. It's a great question to ask. And it's one that, you know, I think people will be watching for with Brady in Tampa Bay. I think he is poised to have more success in the red area with the weapons that they have. You know, one of the things that certainly helps in the red zone is a big body type receiver,

especially at the tight end position. But it helps if you have that guy on the boundary as well. You know, having Mike Evans, having O.J. Howard, having Cameron Braid, having Chris Godwin, you know, that's, that's a lot to choose from. That's a lot of different ways you can stress the defense in the red area. So I think he's poised for that kind of bounce back. But if I'm a Tampa Bay fan, or if I'm a Brady fan that wants to see him have success in the next chapter of his football career, the area I'm watching more than anything else is how he handles pressure, you know, because Tom Brady against pressure the past two seasons has been a bit poor. You know, when you look back to 2018, you know, which is the last year, you know, John Ledger, who covers

the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now for Pew report, he did a great film breakdown. Maybe talked about watching Tom Brady's 2018 film, which was the, he called it the last year that he was in a semi-competent offense, which in fact it was. He was still bad against pressure that year. You look at his numbers against pressure, his adjusted completion percentage according to pro football focuses charted was just 62.9%. That was ranked 21st in the league among qualified passers. Here are some of the illustrious names that had a better adjusted completion percentage against pressure in 2018 than Tom Brady, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Jared Goff, and believe it or not, Josh Rosen. That was 2018.

It didn't get better in 2019. Matter of fact, it was just as bad. You look at his adjusted completion percentage in 2019. Again, it wasn't great. You have to scroll all the way down to, again, 21. It was 59.5 when he faced pressure behind such talented legends of the game at the position, such as Daniel Jones, Andy Dalton, Kyle Allen, Jared Goff, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Baker Mayfield. He has struggled against pressure. That is not something we usually attribute to Tom Brady. One of the things that everybody loves about Tom Brady and one of the things that has made him the greatest of all time is his footwork and his ability to have that sixth sense in the pocket to escape and create space with his feet and avoid pressure. That was missing the past couple of seasons. So the offensive line is going to be critical for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What will help him is having these weapons, you know,

and if he can get – I think a critical thing to watch is if he can get on the same page quick with Chris Godwin, who saw 62.6, I believe, percent of his snaps from the slot last year from Tampa Bay, if he can get on the same page with him quickly, that will give him his Edelman type, his Walker type, where he can look to in those third and four, third and five situations. Then he's going to be in a good situation to reverse these numbers. But that's a critical area to watch. How well does Tom Brady handle pressure now that he's going to Tampa Bay? Absolutely. And I completely agree. And, you know, pressure doesn't just exist in the red zone. And

I'm glad that you expounded upon that and kind of, you know, kind of, I don't want to say blew that argument a little bit more wide open, but expanded upon it by saying that there are areas where you need to watch exactly how he's going to perform moving forward. And again, I think a lot of this is Tom's motivation. I mean, if we know it and we can sit here and talk about it, you know, Tom Brady knows about it. And I think these are things that he's going to be looking at. And obviously the talent that he's going to have around him, like you said, is going to make that job a little bit easier. Having to the time to gel to a new coaching staff, a new offensive system, and some new weapons around him is going to be a learning curve. But if there's anybody that can handle it, it's Tom Brady. He's been around the league for 20 years. I don't think

you're going to throw anything at him that's going to confuse him from a processing standpoint. It's going to be about going out there and physically performing. Mark, before I let you go today, we want to end on a high note here because lord knows we all need a high note and uh it's been a rough difficult time for patriots fans uh seeing tom move on to a new venture and obviously it's been a tough time for the world all over the place so yesterday uh ian glendon of full press coverage joined me and we talked about some of our favorite tom brady memories and uh i'm gonna put you on the spot my friend uh just to uh pontificate when you think of tom in a patriots uniform over the last 20 years what's the indelible image that you're always

going to have when you think of tom's time here in foxborough i mean for me the indelible image is super bowl 36 when he spikes the football to stop the clock before vittorio and the ball just sort of bounces up in the air and he just like softly catches it in his hand to hand it to the referee. Like, if you think of what he had just done, you know, it's a tie game.

It's his first year as a starter. It's the Super Bowl. It's the greatest show on turf. You're the ultimate underdogs. And when you have John Madden up in the booth saying, they have to play for overtime. They have to run out the clock here and play for overtime. But no, he runs on the field.

Drew Bledsoe says, go out there and sling it. He just drove his team down the field, gets into field goal range, and he just ever so calmly catches the ball off the bounce off the Superdome turf to hand it to the referee that image right there is seared into my brain and Tom Brady look when he made that run to that Super Bowl you know I'm seven months older than Tom Brady Tom Brady it was his second year in league. It was my third year in law school. I was a completely different person at that point in my life.

I was a football fan more than anything else. And it was hard not to identify with this kid for me because we're just basically the same age. You know, he's a quarterback. I was a quarterback. He was somebody that got me back into the game when, you know, when I left college and wasn't playing football anymore, it was hard to transition to just being a football fan because I was still in that frame of mind where I wanted to play. And I tried to patch it together by playing flag football down in law school and things like that.

But Brady sort of rejuvenated that love of this game in me. And especially when you see him do things like that, and you see him lead your team to a Super Bowl title. And then I can track my life with one constant of many, many constants in my life, you know, my family, the woman I was dating that third year in law school, who's now my wife. But Tom Brady's been there for almost every step of that this past 20 years. And when I make a transition from being a lawyer to being a football writer, the team I cover initially is the New England Patriots. And, you know, I followed Tom Brady now professionally in a sense.

And, you know, it's an end of an entire chapter of my life that has given me such joy over the past 20 years. And as much as an analyst to try to sort of divorce yourself from that, it's hard not to, when you see him again, appear someone your age, when,

you know, I struggled to get out of bed some mornings because I'm so sore and achy and out of shape. And he's out there leading comebacks against Atlanta and Seattle and winning one more Super Bowl. And it's just given all of us Patriots fans and us Boston sports fans such a thrilling ride over the past 20 years. And I think for the vast majority of us, there's no ill will. There's no sort of anger at Tom Brady.

I know Boston fans, sometimes we have difficulty saying goodbye to some of our heroes and the relationship sometimes gets fractured at the end. I don't think anybody can look at Tom Brady going to Tampa Bay and have any sort of ill will at all. This man gave us everything. This man gave us hope. You know, part of the great thing about the way the NFL works is that every team right now, all 32 teams have have hope but we didn't have hope you know in 1999 and in 2000 this was a franchise that seemed like it was sort of lost tom brady gave us hope again and he gave us hope every single time he ran on the field it didn't matter what the score was it didn't matter who the opponent was it didn't matter what the situation was as long as we had 12 we thought we were going to be okay and we had that for 20 years which is more than any other franchise has ever had and for that we should be eternally grateful so well said and a

lot of what you said i identify with so closely uh i am a few years younger than than tom i was in college uh when uh when he took over for drew and i it really kind of hit me as you were describing that that all of my quote-unquote adult life has been Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots, and if you had told that same college kid watching him lead the Patriots to an improbable Super Bowl victory that one day I would be sitting in a press room at Gillette Stadium while Tom walks to the podium after a game and be able to write an article about that

and be able to say that I covered the greatest quarterback of all time is something I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined. I had that opportunity and I'm so grateful for that. And what you described in terms of the parallels in your personal life to Tom Brady on the football field is something that so many Boston fans, New England sports fans can identify with. And I'm so glad that you shared that story. So thank you, because I think that adds a personal element to this as well that really I think our listeners are going to to really enjoy.

And again, I agree with you about what you said about New England sports fans wishing Tom well. I don't think there's anybody that is a true New England sports fan that can look at what this guy did for the past 20 years and not look at him with anything but admiration. I personally wish him the best in Tampa, and we'll see. We'll see what that marriage down there is going to be like up here in New England. It's next man up, my friend, and thank you for the insight that you provided on that as well. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart once again for joining me today. Very quickly before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can find

all of your great work. Mark is on so many platforms. It would probably take one full show for me to adequately tell you about all of the great work that he does. But I'm going to ask him to do it in a very short amount of time here but mark the the floor is yours uh plug away because no one deserves it more well well thank you mike it's always a blast to be here and you know i'm obviously you know this but i'll reiterate it i'm such a huge fan of what you've done with this show and you know one of the great things about doing what we do is getting to know people. And look, we were friendly before, but we've become closer since. And that's one of the great things.

And one of the things that I'm lucky for is to, you know, your friendship over the past, you know, two years or so has been fantastic. And I'm so happy to have that. And it's just great to be able to talk and catch up every now and again. As far as if people wanted to follow me on Twitter,

at Mark Schofield, a bunch of different places. But like you said, the newest one, Touchdown Wire over at USA Today, where I get to work with Doug Farrar. Doug and I go back to the Bleacher Report NFL 1000 project. So it's nice to cover the NFL sort of on a more macro scale a bit. But other outlets inside the pylon, Pro Football Weekly, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, and Pat's Pulpit. And I also have my two shows, The Scosio at Pat's Pulpit and the QB Scosio with Michael Kist over at Bleeding Green Radio.

Thank you again, my friend. And I assure you, the feeling is definitely mutual. One of the great blessings that I have in this job is being able to share the microphone with people like you, a true friend like you. And I cannot thank you enough for your wisdom, your counsel, your insight, and your assistance. But most of all, I really, I thank God every day that I can call you a friend. And that to me is the greatest honor. Stay safe, stay healthy. Best wishes to you and yours. Have a great weekend, buddy. You too, my friend. All the best. And so, Patriots fans, we put a wrap on the tumultuous week that was here in Foxborough. I really

wish there could have been a happier ending to this week. If you were to have asked me last Friday if I believed that this Friday I'd be wrapping up this week by talking about Tom Brady's departure instead of his re-signing in New England, I wouldn't have believed it. Perhaps the handwriting was on the walls and I just didn't want to acknowledge it,

or maybe it really did come down to the 11th hour. Regardless of what, I've done a lot of reflecting on Tom Brady's time in New England, and even though he'll be calling Tampa Bay his football home for the next two seasons, my fandom and my admiration will never wane. At age 42, soon to be 43, Tom is about to embark on a journey that's afforded to so few professional athletes. He's getting a chance at a new beginning. Here in Foxborough, so are the New England Patriots. And as the host of this podcast and someone that will continue to cover the Patriots, I am beyond honored and beyond grateful for the years I was able to spend covering the greatest athlete of my generation. But I am equally as grateful and excited to cover

the next chapter in Patriots football. I hope that all of you in Patriots Nation remain on board for the ride, and if you choose to continue to make the Locked On Patriots podcast part of that ride, I'd again be deeply honored. But next week continues the commencement of a new era in Foxborough, and here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, we will take a deep dive into some of the recent acquisitions that the Patriots have made, including one on the defensive side of the ball that I know quite well from my days in covering the Los Angeles Chargers.

Don't forget, Monday's episode will still feature the Mock Draft Monday segment, as well as the Mocks of March, so keep a sharp eye on your Twitter accounts, folks, because this week's exercise will be posted on Saturday. As always, the Locked on Patriots podcast can be found by subscribing and downloading via your preferred podcast provider, and you can always listen on your smart device just by asking it to play the latest episode of Locked On Patriots.

Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I would like to thank Mark Schofield for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's podcast, but most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. And if today's episode left you wanting for more, now tell your smart device to play the latest episode of Locked On NFL.

Stay safe, stay smart, and have a great weekend, everyone.