Well, the meeting of Patriots exes was apparently extremely awkward in the moments leading up to “The Roast of Tom Brady.”
Before the jokes started flying in about the legendary quarterback during the Netflix special, there was some “real” tension between Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, according to Julian Edelman and Drew Bledsoe.
The two former Patriots shared their experiences of the show on the “Games with Names” podcast released Tuesday, diving into what were some seemingly fraught moments backstage before the roast began.
Edelman, the Super Bowl LIII MVP, said he was hanging out in the green room with some other former Patriots players — Bledsoe included — while Belichick started “opening up” and having some fun with them.
Tom Brady Roast:
Edelman and Bledsoe talk about how the Tom Brady roast and the awkward moment when Robert Kraft walks in the room with Bill Belichick and the players. pic.twitter.com/eHDtYZhZBM— The Best Ball Junkie (@BestBallJunkie) May 8, 2024
But then Kraft, the Patriots owner, walked into the room.
“The tension in that room though… could cut f–king glass,” Edelman said.
“It was very real, it was very real,” Bledsoe replied. “Belichick’s kind of holding court, while as he’s in the middle of this story, Kraft walks in and you guys all go over to say hi to Kraft. The last man standing, to hear him tell it, is my bro. He’s like, ‘Well, Bill’s telling this story, if I leave then he’s telling the story to nobody because everybody is saying hi to Kraft.’”
Belichick was not brought back as Patriots coach after six Super Bowl wins over 24 seasons after the team finished 4-13 and in last place in the AFC East last season.
Edelman did say he tried to warn Belichick that Kraft was coming into the room with some “locker room s–t” but it did not matter.
“Of course [Belichick] didn’t f–king see it,” Edelman said. “[Kraft] didn’t see it, and I was like, ‘Oh s–t, this is going to be some fireworks,’ I just walked away. I didn’t want to be in there.”
Bledsoe did say that the ex-Patriots head coach and Kraft did talk for about 10 minutes in the green room.
During the show, Belichick had plenty of jokes during the roast, including one at the Apple TV+ “Dynasty” documentary that took a deep dive into the inner workings of the Patriots during Belichick and Brady’s time with the club.
The show wasn’t the most favorable to Belichick, and it gave a close look into the purported rift that developed between the coach and Brady.
“It’s an honor to be at the roast of Tom Brady on Netflix tonight. It’s not to be confused with the 10-part Bill Belichick roast during the Apple TV documentary,” Belichick said.
Belichick and Kraft, who reportedly saw their relationship sour at the end of his 24 seasons in New England, did seem to bury the hatchet when they each took a shot on stage.
“I want to say this is the greatest coach in the history of the game that no one else has done,” Kraft said during the moment. “And having Tom Brady and him was the greatest honor the good lord gave me, so cheers!”
