UFC President Dana White made good on his promise to recruit Tom Brady to the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday afternoon, despite the fact that White truly wants Brady to return to the New England Patriots.
As part of the promotion for UFC 248, White had planned several live streams throughout the week, during which he was to be joined by multiple athletes and celebrities including Mark Wahlberg, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs and Brady. At the request of Las Vegas sports anchor Bryan Salmond, White made a compelling case for the Raiders during his phone call with Brady today, which was streamed live on White's IG account.
In his pitch to Brady, White stressed the Raiders' state of the art practice facility, as well as the close proximity to Los Angeles.
"The stadium, the facility, is incredible. The training facility that they have outside of Vegas is unbelievable. It's a 45-minute flight from L.A - your kids and your family could live there, you could fly back and forth. We want you to come to the Raiders... Come on brother, get to Vegas!"
Brady's response to White's impassioned recruiting efforts: "I love you... It's been a lot of patience for me. Obviously, being where I've been for 20 years, it's been an amazing experience and I don't know what the future holds. Right now, I’m just trying to be patient through the process.”
When asked if he could convince Brady to sign with the Raiders earlier this week, White revealed that he and other celebrity Pats fans have been "terrorizing" Brady to no avail (H/T Yahoo Sports):
“Trust me, I’ve been terrorizing Brady. If you ever want to rob a bank, do it with Brady. This guy doesn’t say [anything] to anybody. I know I’ve been trying to get him. Wahlberg. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been terrorizing him. Everybody from Boston has been terrorizing this guy and he hasn’t been saying anything. Obviously, if he doesn’t sign with Boston, which is where I would like him to be, hopefully he comes to Vegas.”
Teams can officially begin negotiations with Brady, as well as other unrestricted free agents on March 16th.
Tom Brady Unlikely To Sign With Patriots, Says ESPN Reporter
Multiple reports suggest Tom Brady intends to leave the New England Patriots once NFL free agency officially opens.
Tom Brady to the Las Vegas Raiders? Tom Brady to the Los Angeles Chargers? Tom Brady to any team other than the New England Patriots? It's tough to envision No. 12 quarterbacking any franchise other than the one he has spent his first 20 NFL seasons with, but there seems to be a growing belief that he will leave once free agency officially opens.
During Thursday's episode of "Get Up," ESPN's Jeff Darlington revealed that he would be "stunned" if Brady stuck with the Patriots.
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Says Darlington, "There are people very close to Tom Brady who are being told by Tom Brady, 'It's not gonna happen. I'm going somewhere else.'" He adds, "We need to wrap our minds around the fact that it is far more likely than not that Tom Brady will not be back with the Patriots. I am now at the point where I would be stunned if Tom Brady returns to the Patriots."
Adding further belief that Brady's run in New England is coming to a close comes from The Boston Herald's Karen Guregian, who reports that the Pats have not even reached out to Brady to discuss a new contract. Similar to Jeff Darling's comments, Guregian notes that Brady's chances of staying in New England are "not looking good."
