Dana White revealed he played a part in trying to get Tom Brady to play for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, even convincing Rob Gronkowski to join him if the deal was closed. According to Sports Illustrated, White appeared on UFC 278 with The Gronks on Saturday’s ESPN lineup, where Gronk seemed to drag the story out of the UFC leader.
“I didn’t want to talk about that, no, but he sort of sucked me into it on live TV,” White told the now-retired star. “Yeah, it’s true. I talked Brady into playing for the Raiders, and Gronk was coming with him.”
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White seemed to be on the verge of making the deal happen, possibly changing the course of football history given what happened with Brady in Tampa Bay. It all seemed locked until one man ruined it all, according to White.
“They were negotiating the deal and they were really close to getting it done, and then Gruden pulled the deal,” White said. “Brady was not happy about it. Neither was I.”
White also shared that he thought he’d never tell the story behind the possible Brady movie publicly, but Gronk managed to pull it out of him on live TV. What’s missing is why Gruden would want to torpedo the deal.
Before he was fired from the team due to his alleged use of homophobic slurs and racism in organization emails, Gruden likely could’ve made a playoff run to coincide with the Raiders moving to Las Vegas. This didn’t happen, Gruden ended up removed from the team and the Raiders are entering the new football season with their last playoff win coming a decade earlier.
Brady eventually decided to join the Bucs, with Gronk returning alongside him and helping to lead the team to a Super Bowl win in 2021. While the team would return to the playoffs the following year, they fell short against the eventual champion Los Angeles Rams. Brady then retired, then unretired and is now back with Tampa Bay for another season despite attempts to get him to move over to the Miami Dolphins and other teams.
If Brady would have gone to the Raiders in 2020, would all of these events play out differently? Would Gruden still be the Raiders coach?
