Tom Brady in silver and black is hard to picture. Jon Gruden thought so, too.
According to UFC President Dana White, Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski almost went to the Raiders instead of the Buccaneers in 2020. But Gruden, the coach of the Raiders at the time, nixed the deal.
White told the crazy story during UFC 278 Saturday night while on television with the Gronkowski family.
“I worked to put that deal together for Brady and Gronk to come to the Raiders. It was almost a done deal. And at the last minute, Gruden blew the deal up and said that he didn’t want him, and all hell broke loose,” White said. “It was crazy. Brady was already looking at houses. It wasn’t being said yet that Gronk was coming. So Las Vegas would have had Brady and Gronk the year that the Bucs won the Super Bowl, except Gruden blew the deal up.”
Gronkowski then confirmed White’s story.
“That is exactly what happened,” Gronkowski replied.
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Dana White says Brady and Gronk ➡️ Raiders “was almost a done deal.” 😳 #UFC278 pic.twitter.com/buWEXxi5Ho
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 21, 2022
White’s revelation caused a stir on Twitter, but it went mega viral when people connected the story with one that Brady told on HBO’s “The Shop” in 2021. Brady said on the show that a team — which he didn’t reveal — was interested in him that offseason, but they later backed out and the future Hall of Fame quarterback delivered a hilarious quote at the time.
“One of the teams, they weren’t interested at the very end,” Brady said. “I was thinking, you’re sticking with that motherf——-.”
Now, White’s story has caused people to speculate whether the Raiders were that team Brady was speaking of, and if Derek Carr is the quarterback who Brady criticized.
This was Tom Brady talking about his free agency: “One of the teams, they weren’t interested at the very end. I was thinking, ‘You’re sticking with that mother*****?’”
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 21, 2022
That would seem to line up with Dana White’s story below, which Gronk confirmed:pic.twitter.com/JVVfNaGiUq https://t.co/B0RMvP0M6n
After the UFC event, White then answered a question from reporters about his Brady comments. He said he didn’t think he would ever tell the story, but when Gronkowski brought it up, he decided to share.
“I talked Brady into playing for the Raiders, and Gronk was coming with him,” White told reporters. “They were negotiating the deal, and they were really close to getting it done. And then Gruden pulled the deal. Brady was not happy about it, neither was I.”
More from Dana White talking about Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski’s intentions to play for the #Raiders until Jon Gruden decided not to do it:
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 21, 2022
Dana says Brady was “not happy” when the deal didn’t happen.
“I thought I would never tell that story publicly.” pic.twitter.com/R6WERdQNbX
Another data point that could point to the two stories being connected is a Gruden quote from March 2020, in which he put his support behind Carr to dispel the Brady to Vegas rumors.
“You’re killing me, man,” Gruden said, per the Review-Journal. “We love our quarterback. Our quarterback’s a really good player, Derek Carr. I want to reiterate that to everybody here in Vegas. We’ve got a good, young quarterback, and the film, the statistics and analytics prove it.”
The “what if” stories for Brady’s career just got even more interesting. Could he and Gronkowski have had the same success in Vegas as they did in Tampa Bay?
“It would’ve been amazing for the city, amazing for the Raiders,” White told reporters.
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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