Earlier this week, Bruce Arians shocked the football world when he announced his retirement as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach.
The Buccaneers announced former defensive coordinator Todd Bowles will take over as head coach. Immediately after the move was announced, fans were wondering why Arians decided to retire.
Some speculated that Tom Brady had something to do with Arians’ decision to step down. Count former NFL star Shannon Sharpe among them.
Earlier this week, he said he was 99.9-percent sure Brady had something to do with Arians’ retirement.
“99.9%. I hate saying 100%, but 99.9%,” Sharpe said. “Because Tom Brady told BA: ‘You’re stepping down today, and we’re going to have a press conference tomorrow, on Thursday, at 1 p.m., and you’re going to say all the right things. I believe Tom Brady told the (Bucs) management: ‘It’s BA or me.’ It’s as simple as that.”
“Tom Brady had 99% to do with Bruce Arians stepping down. Brady told BA: you’re stepping down today, we’re going to have a press conference tomorrow and you’ll say all the right things. I believe Tom Brady told management: ‘It’s BA or me.'”
— @ShannonSharpe pic.twitter.com/rPDGQPsaAY
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) March 31, 2022
Sharpe said the comments from Arians did nothing to dispel the notion that Brady impacted his decision.
“We got no indication (from Arians),” Sharpe said. “We heard him talk at the (NFL Scouting) Combine. We heard him talk afterwards, how excited he was that, ‘We got Tom back and we’ve got a chance to compete for a title.’ And all of a sudden, out of the blue, he steps down. And steps down to do a senior consultant? Kind of like Brad Stevens stepped down (with the Boston Celtics). … He got demoted-promoted.”
Did Tom Brady have anything to do with Arians’ retirement?
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