Tom Brady References 'The Hangover', Toasts 'Wolf Pack' With Garoppolo, Brissett On Instagram
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- How do you explain Tom Brady's late-career surge in the past three seasons after what looked like the start of a steady decline? The Patriots quarterback has greatly improved his play since his down 2013 season, and is now playing in his second Super Bowl in three years since then.
One of the external factors driving Brady in recent years was, ostensibly, the presence of backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Brady's improvement coincided with the Patriots bringing in Garoppolo as a second-round pick in 2014, the highest draft pick Bill Belichick ever spent on a quarterback. The third-year quarterback out of Eastern Illinois also showed this season, in just under six quarters, that he could be a legitimate NFL starting QB.
It's likely that Garoppolo's presence and strong performance has driven Brady to be even better and not to relinquish his stranglehold on the Patriots' starting quarterback job, the kind of motivation that the likes of Ryan Mallett or Brian Hoyer could not provide in recent years. This has often invited speculation that Brady does not like his teammate or doesn't want to associate with him due to the threat of being overtaken as the starting QB.
Brady has done a good job throwing cold water on that hot take in 2016, showing support for Garoppolo (and rookie third-round pick Jacoby Brissett) when they had to fill in for him. His showing of appreciation for what the two backup QBs bring to the Patriots continued in the wake of the Patriots' AFC Championship win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Brady's newest Instagram post, which shows him posing with Garoppolo and Brissett with a thoughtful caption describing their relationship - and making a clear reference to the movie The Hangover.
In case you can't see the caption, it reads:
"You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when the Patriots brought Jimmy in, I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack - it grew by one, so where there two - there were two of us in the wolf pack. I was alone first in the pack and then Jimmy joined in later. And nine months ago, when the Patriots introduced me to Jacoby, I thought 'Wait a second, could it be?' And I knew for sure- I just added another guy to my wolf pack. So today, I make a toast! Blood brothers!"
Brady's job security was never really in jeopardy, even with Garoppolo showing that he may be a pretty good player in his own right. But the mere presence of a backup with viable skills as an NFL QB likely drove Brady to make himself an even better player. Knowing how a guy like Brady operates, he probably appreciates Garoppolo for actually being good and giving him what he would see as an added "challenge" to play at his best and hold onto his starting spot.
If Brady can close the deal on his fifth Super Bowl championship, his "wolf pack" of "blood brothers" should be on the list of people to thank.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
