For those in the Boston area who aren’t staying indoors at this upside-down time, there are a dozen specific messages peppered throughout the vicinity.
Via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, 12 billboards thanking Tom Brady for his time with the Patriots now appear in New England.
Via CBSSports.com, the billboards say, “Thank you Tom. The greatest of all time! With love, the Kraft family and the New England Patriots.”
Brady, whose most recent contract laid the foundation for him to become a free agent, chose to leave the team. But it’s fair to wonder whether he sensed that Patriots coach Bill Belichick decided that it was time to move on, given the slow, sputtering efforts by Belichick to make Brady the kind of offer that would make him believe Belichick wanted him to stay.
There’s no doubt that team owner Robert Kraft wanted Brady to stay. Ultimately, Kraft deferred to Belichick, who even if Brady had stayed will likely be coaching the team far longer than Brady will be playing for it.