Fitzmagic
Ryan Fitzpatrick talking about why he genuinely dislikes Tom Brady is chicken soup for the soul
David Bergman
For years we have beaten the “Tom Brady is not a great guy” drum. We’ve hammered the thing like John Bonham playing “Moby Dick” live at the Fillmore. There’s his pseudo-science obsession which legitimized Alex Guerrero, a man once indicted for defrauding cancer patients. There’s the time he broke up with his girlfriend while she was pregnant with their child and left her to start a new family. There’s the two greatest cheating scandals in NFL history, both of which he was at the center of. There was his defense of Antonio Brown for indefensible things, the coup attempt within the Dolphins’ organization for which he wasn’t punished (but the Dolphins were), and, depending on who you believe, the mutiny against Bruce Arians, who he reportedly had fired this offseason in exchange for his unretirement. And oh by the way, that unretirement proved to be the last straw for his supermodel wife of 13 years, Gisele Bundchen, who is allegedly divorcing Brady after he reneged on his promise to hang it up not just to her but to their children.
For a long time, the winning (oh so much winning) quieted these misgivings. They were explained away as jealousy or sour grapes. But now the winning is drying up and the chorus is growing louder. This week, Ryan Fitzpatrick—AKA the artist formerly known as Fitzmagic—added his voice to the growing crescendo, candidly explaining why he doesn’t like Tom Brady. Check it out.
Ahhh, Campbell’s chicken noodle soup for the soul. Mmm mmm good. Apparently Fitzpatrick’s dislike stems from the Buffalo Bill’s 34-31 win over the Patriots in 2011. With the Harvard hero under center, the Bills rallied back from 21 down to snap a seven-year winless drought against the Pats. 14 consecutive games of dismal disappointment and each time a Bills quarterback (and there were A LOT of them) was there to greet Brady for a postgame handshake. But when it was Brady’s turn to be the loser, he was nowhere to be found, leaving Fitzmagic hanging. Call it “competitive drive.” We call it being a “conceited prick.”
After that fateful snub in 2011, Fitzpatrick says he relished every single time he got to beat Brady, completing the AFC East sweep of ol’ Tommy Terrific as the starting quarterback for both the Jets and Dolphins. The last one, he says, was especially sweet, robbing Brady and co. of homefield advantage in 2019 with the Tank-For-Tua Fins.
As fellow Brady skeptics, we find this honesty refreshing. You may not. Mileage will vary. But one thing is certain: If the losses start piling up, stories like Fitzmagic’s will continue pouring in, because if there’s one thing people hate more than a winner, it’s a loser.