Belichick praises Brady: 'The greatest player. The greatest career'

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick complimented Tom Brady on an exceptional 23-year career.

"The greatest player. The greatest career. The great, great person," Belichick said on Brady's "Let's Go!" podcast. "It was such an opportunity and an honor for me to coach Tom. I guess it's got to end at some point, you know, but it's the greatest one ever. Congratulations, Tom."

Belichick and Brady spent 20 years together in New England. Brady was drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, Belichick's first year as head coach.

Brady and Belichick took the league by storm, winning six Super Bowls together and becoming the greatest quarterback-head coach duo of all time.

"The memory and the capacity that Tom had to remember plays, situations, and finer points like hard counts and getting out-of-bounds plays and things like that, from years before in the exact same situation and time frame, was remarkable," Belichick said.

The 45-year-old Brady left the Patriots to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2020. Brady won his seventh Super Bowl in his first season in Tampa, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs.

Brady leaving New England sparked a conversation about a potential rivalry between the two.

"There's nobody I'd rather be associated with," Brady said. "I think that from my standpoint, it's always such a stupid conversation to say, 'Brady versus Belichick,' because, in my mind, that's not what partnerships are about. Coach (Belichick) couldn't play quarterback, and I couldn't coach … In my view, it was just people always trying to pull us apart, and I don't think that we even felt that with each other."

Brady announced Monday that he'll begin his broadcasting career during the 2024 season. He signed a 10-year, $375-million deal with Fox Sports in 2022.