The Apple TV New England Patriots docuseries The Dynasty concluded its initial run on Thursday night. This week saw the final two episodes, covering the final two Super Bowl appearances of the Tom Brady–Bill Belichick era, and then Brady’s departure from the team.
In Episode 9, the series explores two key events that led up to Brady’s eventual departure. The first is Malcolm Butler’s benching in the Patriots’ Super Bowl LII loss. The other is Brady’s relationship with Alex Guerrero.
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Butler’s benching has long been a mystery for Patriots fans. While the exact reason isn’t given, there is new revelations about that decision revealed in this episode.
What stood out in the latest edition of The Dynasty? Focusing mainly on newly-recorded interviews, here are the most notable quotes from Episode 9…
Patriots leaders react to Bill Belichick’s letter to Donald Trump
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 19: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) listens to New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick deliver remarks during an event celebrating the team’s Super Bowl win on the South Lawn at the White House April 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. It was the team’s fifth Super Bowl victory since 1960. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Devin McCourty: “When the letter came out, I felt kind of like ‘man, we got kind of bamboozled.’ Bill always said things like ‘we don’t want to have to be in the media talking about these different things.’ I had some opinions I might have wanted to share but out of respect to the team, I didn’t.”
Matthew Slater: “I personally thought it was very hypocritical. The Patriot way, it starts with respecting the men you work alongside with and trying to put the team first. I mean, that’s the foundation for this place. I just don’t think he was connected enough with his players at the time to realize that was going to have an impact on the locker room.”
Earlier in the episode, Belichick mentioned he’d known Trump long before he got into politics, calling the relationship ‘non-political’ and the letter he wrote Trump which Trump read at a rally in New Hampshire during the 2016 election cycle ‘personal’ rather than political.
At the time, there was significant speculation that Belichick’s apparent support of Trump would be an issue in the Patriots’ locker room. Clearly, it was.
Tom Brady explains how he began working with Alex Guerrero
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – NOVEMBER 27: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots celebrates with trainer Alex Guerrero after defeating the New York Jets with a score of 22 to 17 at MetLife Stadium on November 27, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Brady: “Over the years, my relationship with Alex really blossomed. There’s many moments where Alex helped me through tough times – physically, mentally, emotionally. I remember back in 2004 I was dealing with elbow pain and I couldn’t throw at training camp. When I went to the treatment people, it wasn’t helping. But when I met Alex, for the first time my pain went away in my elbow, in my whole life. So I was like ‘how the f— did you do that?”
Brady and Guerrero’s relationship goes way back before the start of TB12. Brady shares the two were working together going back to the initial Super Bowl runs.
Tom Brady didn’t like the Patriots’ treatment of Alex Guerrero
BOSTON, MA – SEPTEMBER 17: Alex Guerrero, left to right, co-founder of TB12 Performance & Fitness, New England Patriots player Tom Brady and John Burns, CEO of TB12 Performance & Fitness at the grand opening of the TB12 Performance & Recovery Center on September 17, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Brady: “The whole situation, it caused a lot of animosity. I mean, it was so stupid because Alex is an amazing guy. He kept me healthy. If I look at – there’s no way I play probably 12 years in the NFL without his commitment to me and our team. And then instead of getting credit for it, he got blamed. And I kept going, ‘What the f— is wrong with you people?”
Brady’s belief in Guerrero comes through strong in this episode. Having Guerrero restricted from being around the team was clearly an issue for him.
Robert Kraft explains his role in the trading of Jimmy Garoppolo
FOXBORO, MA – AUGUST 10: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the New England Patriots prepares to throw against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first half of a preseason game at Gillette Stadium on August 10, 2017 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Kraft: “I never asked him [Belichick] to do it [trade Garoppolo]. I just told Bill that we weren’t trading Brady ever. So, that made it a little awkward.”
The general consensus has always been that Belichick wanted to trade Brady and move on with Garoppolo, and Kraft instead made him trade Garoppolo to keep Brady happy. In this quote Kraft suggests he told Belichick to trade Garoppolo – who was on the verge of needing a new contract – without really telling him to trade him.
Players share their reactions to Malcolm Butler being benched in Super Bowl LII
Feb 4, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Butler: “I was very emotional man. Like, I didn’t feel like I was being treated right because I didn’t find out until the game that I wasn’t going to play.”
McCourty: “If you’d have told me going into the game ‘Malcolm Butler’s not going in, do you think that helps you win?’ I would say no. For that year, 98 percent of the time, Malcolm was on the field playing with us on defense.”
Matthew Slater: “As players, I know that we all felt strongly that Malcolm should have been out there, but that’s not our call. And at the end of the day, we trust our coach.”
The fact Butler dressed but didn’t play (except for one special teams snap) has always been puzzling. These comments make it seems like a truly last-minute decision, which would make sense given teams have to submit inactive 45 minutes before kickoff.
Robert Kraft on the Malcolm Butler benching
Nov 25, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft before the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. (Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports)
Kraft: “What has been told to me is that there was something personal going on between Bill and Malcolm that was not football-related. I always felt that every decision Bill had made had been to put what’s in the best interest of the team first and put emotion aside. But with Malcolm, he did just the opposite.”
Multiple coaches and players, including Butler himself, say in the episode they don’t know why Butler didn’t play in the game. Belichick simply says “we talked about that” then stays silent after a follow-up question. This quote from Kraft is as close as we’ve ever gotten, and maybe as close as we’ll ever get to the truth.
