Brady responds to Fitzpatrick's claim he showed QB 'no respect' originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Who knew there was a beef between Tom Brady and Ryan Fitzpatrick?
Fitzpatrick, who faced Brady's New England Patriots 14 times over his 17-year career as an NFL quarterback, recently shared that he's not a very big fan of the GOAT, claiming Brady declined to shake his hand on several occasions after they faced each other.
"It bothered me so much because there was no respect there," Fitzpatrick said last week on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast," adding that Brady "just pisses me off."
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In fact, Fitzpatrick still believes he is the "motherf---er" whom Brady famously referenced during a 2021 episode of HBO's "The Shop" when talking about a team that decided to stick with its current quarterback instead of signing Brady in 2020 free agency.
On the latest episode of his "Let's Go!" podcast with co-host Jim Gray, Brady claimed he wasn't referring to Fitzpatrick with that quote.
"I like to keep them guessing, and unfortunately with this coming out, I’d have to tell him," Brady said Monday. "It wasn’t him."
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As for Fitzpatrick's apparent disdain for the 45-year-old QB, Brady seemed generally aware that Fitzpatrick isn't his biggest fan.
"I love Ryan, but somewhere he’s got it out for me," Brady said. "I actually talked to Ryan Griffin, who’s one of our quarterbacks (on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and he said, ‘Ryan’s always all over you. I don’t know why.’ So I don’t know why Ryan is. Maybe Ryan and I need to have a talk."
Fitzpatrick officially retired from the NFL in the offseason and joined Amazon Prime Video as a pregame analyst for its "Thursday Night Football" broadcast. Brady, who will join FOX as an NFL analyst after he retires, dished out a few compliments for the Harvard graduate and insisted he doesn't know why Fitzpatrick has it out for him.
“Ryan is a hell of a guy, too, and I’ve competed against him," Brady said. "He’s a Harvard guy, now he looks like he’s part homeless, and now he’s on TV doing what my future job’s going to be, so I think Ryan’s got a good thing going.
"I’m not sure why he needs to think that I’m after him or something like that."
Brady has been accused of postgame handshake snubs in the past, and his 11-3 record against Fitzpatrick in those 14 matchups probably contributed to Fitzpatrick's ire. Perhaps the two can mend fences in their post-NFL lives as broadcasters.
