How John Spytek earned Tom Brady's trust: From Michigan to Tampa Bay to Las Vegas

New York Times

06-05-2025

In a banquet room decorated for Christmas, a group of coaches' kids were entertained by Santa Claus. There were awesome presents for the Michigan football team — high-end swag, including commemorative watches.
The Wolverines were gathered at the Eden Roc Hotel Miami Beach the night before Christmas to prepare to play Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl, and this was a night of celebration.
John Spytek, though, wasn't feeling very festive.
He wouldn't be playing in the game. A redshirt freshman linebacker, Spytek was physically worn down from spending the last five months on the scout team and getting driven into the ground by Steve Hutchinson and Jeff Backus, both future NFL stars. He missed home. He wondered if he belonged.
It had been a long season that began with a shattered thumb in training camp. Playing with a cast, he then sprained his shoulder.
The week before Michigan's season opener against Notre Dame, he went all out in practice. The next day, after a Michigan win, Spytek was given a T-shirt in a team meeting. 'Scout Team Player Of The Week,' it read.
It was the highlight of his year, along with a November practice. That week, in preparation for Penn State, Spytek was assigned to play the part of LaVar Arrington on the scout team. Arrington was on his way to winning the Butkus Award, the Bednarik Award and the Lambert Trophy. Wearing Arrington's No. 11 was an honor, and Spytek took it seriously.
So did Tom Brady.
The senior quarterback threw a deep ball to running back Anthony Thomas, who ran a wheel route. Often, scout team defenders run hard and then ease up at the end so the offensive player can finish the play. But Spytek closed on the ball, reached out and batted it down.
Brady, unsurprisingly, would be more difficult to beat on game day. Down by 10 in the fourth quarter, he calmly brought Michigan back, throwing the winning touchdown pass with under two minutes remaining.
It wasn't the only time Brady flipped a game's script that season. There was a late touchdown drive to beat Notre Dame and two touchdown drives in the final 16 minutes to overtake Ohio State.
If not for Brady, Spytek and his teammates would not have been in Miami preparing for the Orange Bowl.
Spytek brought his meal back from the buffet at the Eden Roc and sat at a table with other redshirt freshmen who were feeling like him. They looked down at their plates and didn't say much.
Then someone walked up and put his plate on the white tablecloth.
'I think I'll have dinner with the young bucks tonight,' Brady said.
Then the team captain and MVP was somehow one of them. For about an hour, Brady talked with the freshmen about nothing and everything, lifting their spirits and making them feel they belonged.
'It was a small glimpse of who he is, the grace he operates in,' Spytek says. 'He probably doesn't remember it. But the rest of us could never forget it.'
It is more than an indelible memory. It was the beginning of a connection that would help make NFL history.
On New Year's Day, Brady led another comeback to beat Alabama in the Orange Bowl. Then, 11 years passed before he and Spytek crossed paths again.
Brady, a sixth-round pick, became arguably the most unlikely success story in the NFL's grand history, winning three Super Bowls and establishing himself as football's best quarterback.
After Brady left, Spytek finally got on the field at Michigan, playing 37 games and making 37 tackles over three years.
Then the Lions gave him $250 a week to run errands in the operations department. He bartended three nights a week to get by. Spytek began scouting with the Eagles and worked in Philadelphia for five years before becoming the Browns' college scouting director.
On the field before a 2010 game between the Patriots and Browns, Brady caught up with his Michigan classmate Aaron Shea, then the Browns' director of player engagement. Spytek moved in and reintroduced himself to Brady. The interaction didn't last more than 10 seconds before Spytek walked away, unsure if Brady remembered who he was.
Another decade went by. Brady had won his fourth, fifth and sixth Super Bowls and was widely considered the best quarterback of all time. But the partnership between Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick had frayed, and the Patriots somehow convinced themselves they would be better without him.
As the Patriots concluded that Brady was descending, Spytek was ascending. After three years with the Broncos, where he won a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning, he became the right-hand man to general manager Jason Licht with the Buccaneers.
In Tampa, Jameis Winston, the former first pick in the draft, arguably had the best season of his career in 2019 under new coach Bruce Arians. The assumption was that the Bucs would commit to Winston long term, even though he had led the league in interceptions.
Spytek's job, however, was to open his mind and the minds of others. Late in the season, he studied tape of veteran quarterbacks he thought might be available. Among them were Teddy Bridgewater, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. One day, Licht walked into the draft room, which was adjacent to his office, and saw Spytek watching Brady. Spytek told him Brady's contract was expiring, and he didn't see any drop-off in his play. Licht chuckled.
Nobody respected Brady more than Licht. He was part of the front office that drafted him and spent seven years with him in New England. But it was almost impossible to envision Brady leaving the Patriots, let alone becoming a Buc.
Two days later, Licht approached Spytek at practice.
'I watched Tom,' he said. 'He's still pretty f—ing good.'
Licht and Arians decided it was worth a shot, even if it was the longest of long shots. Licht, Arians, Spytek, Rob McCartney, who was the director of pro scouting at the time, Mike Biehl, the director of college scouting, and Mike Greenberg, who handled contracts, devised a plan. They knew if their interest became public, it would create a firestorm that could affect other options if Brady stayed in New England, so they decided to keep their pursuit between the six of them and team ownership. They would use code words to describe their mission.
Licht asked Spytek if he really thought Brady might come to Tampa. Spytek, looking at the Bucs' impressive depth chart, pointed out the roster would be a selling point.
'If you build it,' Spytek said, 'he will come.'
'That's from a movie,' Licht said.
And so they dubbed their project 'Operation Shoeless Joe' after the Shoeless Joe Jackson character in 'Field of Dreams.'
Anytime they spoke of Brady, they called him 'Shoeless Joe.'
Licht became 'Ray Kinsella,' the Kevin Costner character in the movie who built the baseball field that drew Shoeless Joe from the great beyond. They began calling Bucs owner Joel Glazer 'Terrance Mann' after the James Earl Jones character who disappeared into the cornfield with Shoeless Joe.
They recited lines from the movie.
'Go the distance.'
'Ease his pain.'
Operation Shoeless Joe worked, and Brady told the Bucs he intended to play for them. But he still hadn't officially parted ways with the Patriots. He told Licht he would visit Patriots owner Robert Kraft one evening to convey his intentions in person. The Bucs feared Kraft would convince him to stay.
Early the next morning, Spytek was stuck at a traffic light on his way to work. He picked up his phone. The first story on his Instagram feed was from Brady, thanking New England and saying he was going to take his football journey elsewhere. By the end of the day, he was a Buccaneer.
The Bucs closed their offices that day because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first time Spytek and Brady met as Bucs was at training camp in a BioReference trailer, where both were getting nose swabs for COVID tests.
'Hey, Tom, John Spytek,' Spytek said through his mask. 'We played together a long time ago.'
'Yeah, yeah, great to see you again,' Brady said through his mask. 'It's been so long.'
Spytek wasn't sure Brady remembered the batted pass or the Christmas Eve dinner, but he was certain Brady had done his homework on him.
During Brady's New England years, he met with Belichick leading up to games and was given a detailed report on the defense he would be opposing. In Tampa, he asked Licht for a similar arrangement. Licht suggested to Spytek that a couple of young scouts could handle the assignment.
'No,' Spytek said. 'I want to do it. We can't send a young scout in to meet with the greatest player of all time.'
Spytek wanted McCartney with him because he respected McCartney's knowledge. Licht agreed and told Brady, who had questions about both.
'Are they going to know the league?' Brady asked.
Brady showed them a sample report of what he expected.
To prepare, Spytek put in the equivalent of a full day's work, as he would before every meeting with Brady. He knew Brady would want a full report on the second nickel and fourth safety, as well as the star linebacker.
In their first meeting, they talked about the Saints for about an hour. It didn't take long for Brady to challenge the information. Sptyek told him Marshon Lattimore was one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. 'He's not Darrelle Revis,' Brady shot back.
Spytek warned him that Saints safety Marcus Williams could hurt him if he hung a ball up in the middle of the field. He described Janoris Jenkins as a twitchy corner who will play off and take chances and said if a quarterback is late with a throw, Jenkins could come up with an interception. Both players intercepted Brady.
The game was lost, but trust was won.
As the weeks went on, the meetings became casual and longer, sometimes lasting as long as 2 1/2 hours. Their conversations were about more than their upcoming opponent.
Often, the first 20 or 30 minutes of the meeting were about their experiences at Michigan. They laughed about how the strength coaches emphasized thick necks. By then, neither had Michigan necks as Spytek had become a marathon runner and Brady had spent years training for pliability.
Brady came to Tampa on a plant-based diet that excluded processed foods, dairy, gluten, sugar and nightshades. But at Michigan, it wasn't quite like that. They reminisced about gorging on Cottage Inn Pizza at all hours, pigging out on Mister Spots wings, taking down deli sandwiches from Maize and Blue Deli and trying to bulk up with prime rib and cheese fries from Outback Steakhouse.
'I got to listen to it all, and then eventually was like, come on, can we get to the meeting?' McCartney said.
Brady took the prep work seriously, even if he knew his opponents as well as Spytek and McCartney before showing up for the meeting. He even wanted to meet before training camp joint practices. When it was established that he would play in a preseason game in Houston, he asked Spytek and McCartney to meet in their hotel the morning of the game.
'I need to be at my best because people are coming to watch me,' he told them.
After their prep work was done, Brady often started storytelling, which he did about as well as quarterbacking. He talked about idolizing and hanging with Joe Montana, Steve Young and Dan Marino and playing golf with Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers in 'The Match.'
Despite an uncomfortable parting, Brady spoke reverently about Belichick and his processes, game planning and motivational techniques. He said playing for him helped him see the game from a defensive perspective, which empowered him at the line of scrimmage. Belichick taught him that certain defensive alignments meant he didn't have to concern himself with every coverage possibility. That helped him process more quickly.
He told tales of teammates, opponents, games, drives and plays. Brady gushed about Julian Edelman and Rodney Harrison, saying you almost had to kill them to get them off the field. He also expressed admiration for Danny Amendola, Dave Andrews, Rob Gronkowski, Matt Light, Wes Welker and others.
'When he talked about what made them special, it rarely was about how fast or skilled they were,' Spytek said. 'It was how tough they were and how much they loved to play. You got a peek into his mind about what was important to him.'
Part of Brady's alchemy was that he seemed to remember almost every blade of grass he played on, but his recall appeared selective about the 2015 AFC Championship Game, when Spytek's Broncos beat Brady's Patriots.
In Brady's first season in Tampa, the Bucs won 11 games and made the playoffs as a wild-card team. Moments before the offense took the field in their first playoff game at Washington, Spytek noticed Brady reading something on the sideline. Brady put it down and jogged off. Spytek looked again at what he was reading. It was the report he and McCartney had given him that week.
'The last thing he did before walking on the field to start the playoff run that led to a championship was read the writeup we gave him,' Spytek says. 'It was one of the most poignant moments of my career.'
Their work also affected Super Bowl LV. The scouting reports had a video element with 20 to 25 plays. After Spytek and McCartney showed Brady the video of Chiefs defenders before the Super Bowl, Brady gathered his receivers, tight ends and running backs to share the videos with them. It was the first time he did that, and it helped the Bucs put up 31 points in a one-sided victory.
As Brady ran through the end zone and headed for the tunnel after the game, he saw Spytek and his wife, Kristen, in the southwest corner of Raymond James Stadium. He stopped and changed directions. Brady bear-hugged Spytek.
Spytek had thought about what he wanted to say if this moment came.
'I want you to know that working with you has been the honor of my career,' Spytek told Brady.
'You're awesome,' Brady said. 'Love you.'
Nine months later, Spytek ran in the New York City Marathon to raise funds for the National CMV Foundation, a charity he and Kristen helped establish. Their daughter Evelyn had congenital CMV, or cytomegalovirus, an infectious disease that can be fatal. Evelyn lived until she was 21 months old.
Shortly before the marathon, Licht told Spytek he should tell Brady about why he was running. Spytek demurred, but Licht told Brady anyway. A couple of days later, the CMV Foundation received the most generous donation in its history, courtesy of Brady.
Brady played two more years with the Bucs before retiring at 45 with 23 NFL seasons behind him. Last year, he became a game analyst for Fox and was approved as a minority owner of the Raiders.
Before each of the three Bucs games Brady was assigned to, he visited with Spytek.
By January, the Raiders were searching for a general manager. Brady, not the typical minority owner, called Licht.
'We had a couple long conversations about Spy,' Licht said. 'He knew him well, so I don't really think he wanted reassurance. He was just kind of telling me, 'This is what we want here. Do you think he would fit?' And, of course, I said yes.'
Spytek was interviewed on a video call by Brady, Raiders owner Mark Davis and minority owners Egon Durban and Mike Meldman. Spytek had interviewed for the Raiders' general manager job in 2021 but felt like he had no chance. This was different. Brady asked many of the questions. The interview was cut off after 90 minutes because Spytek had to fly to Nashville to interview with the Titans for their general manager position. But the Raiders knew everything they needed.
When Spytek agreed to become the Raiders' general manager, Brady told him, 'Just be you. That's good enough.'
They have talked on the phone quite a bit since. Spytek keeps him updated on everything the Raiders are doing. Spytek says Brady asks many questions but has not objected to anything. 'Cool, babe, trust you,' is a typical response.
Sometimes, they just talk about what's happening in the league. 'He's as consumed with it as I am, and our love affair with the game is what we have most in common,' Spytek says.
Brady, aware of how his physical presence changes the dynamic in a room, contributes remotely for the most part. But when the Raiders were vetting quarterbacks, he came to Las Vegas for a few days. He met with Spytek and coaches to discuss the veteran possibilities. He spent another day with Spytek discussing college quarterback prospects.
'When we are looking at quarterbacks, we'd have to be fools not to involve him,' Spytek says. 'Tom is the foremost expert on quarterback play I've ever been around.'
Of course, Raiders coach Pete Carroll was a driving force in the trade for Carroll's former quarterback Geno Smith. But Brady endorsed the move. 'He really respected Geno — the way he can process and throw the football,' Spytek says.
During the draft, Brady stayed away but was in constant communication and was on board with the selection of quarterback Cam Miller in the sixth round.
'He liked the way he threw it, his technique, throwing from the ground up and his motion,' Spytek says. 'And he thought he had the potential to improve.'
Like Brady, Miller has a history of winning, having won two FCS national championships at North Dakota State and 32 of 35 starts at Solon High in Iowa.
Dating to their days together at Michigan, Brady shaped how Spytek thinks about quarterbacks — how they should comport themselves, which traits are essential and which are superficial.
Their football values, milled in Ann Arbor and reinforced in Tampa, are the same. What matters to both is the team above all, a wholehearted commitment, unrelenting perseverance and unadulterated accountability.
In Tampa and even at Michigan, they helped bring out the other's best. Even if neither realized it, they have been intertwined for 26 years, all the while building for now.
After Spytek formally accepted the offer to become general manager, he received a text from Brady.
He looked at his phone and saw three letters, an acronym Brady was associated with during the time he and Spytek shared in Tampa.
'LFG,' it read.
(Top photo: courtesy of John Spytek)