Antonio Brown was with the New England Patriots for only about 11 days in 2019. In that short stretch, he played one game before leaving the team amid off-field legal issues. But before his departure, a friendship was forming between Brown and Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick has a story that captures exactly how it started.
The Patriots’ former head coach recently recalled an episode that ended up costing the organization $5,000 for nothing.
Antonio Brown Ordered Special Milk for Tom Brady and Made the Patriots Pay for It Twice
Brady actively recruited Antonio Brown and helped bring him to New England in 2019. The two had a genuine connection from the start, and Brown, knowing how particular Brady was about nutrition and health, decided to make a gesture. He ordered a special kind of milk for Brady as a sign of care and respect. It cost $5,000. Things didn’t exactly go as planned.
Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Former Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady in attendance before Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Belichick explained what happened on “The Pivot” podcast. “Tom’s very nutrition oriented. Antonio ordered this special milk for Brady. Cost $5,000,” Belichick said. “To make a long story short, it got mixed up and ended up in the mail room for too long. The milk went bad. So we go out and get $5,000 worth of this special milk and give it to Brady from Antonio. And now we turn in an expense report for $5,000 worth of milk.”
The room was laughing as Belichick told it. “I didn’t want to ruin the relationship between Brown and Brady on this spoiled milk. So we spent $5,000 to replace it,” he said.
It’s a light, funny story. But it also captures something real about how that friendship started, with Brown going out of his way for Brady, and the team quietly covering the cost to keep the peace.
The Downfall of the Brown-Brady Friendship
Brady was deeply invested in helping Brown. He would remind him about therapy appointments, push for his opportunities, and saw something in him beyond football.
“I wanted the best for him. I think I saw a spark in him that I thought, if put in the right place, you know how incredible it could be for not just the team he was on but for his life and what he could accomplish,” Brady said on the Impaulsive podcast.
After the two won the Super Bowl together with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tensions rose during contract negotiations. Brown later claimed Brady personally called his agent and cursed him out for pushing back on the terms. Brown felt undervalued, particularly compared to what Brady’s close friend Rob Gronkowski reportedly received.
“To me, a friend is someone who’s got your back. Not everybody in sports is going to be your friend. Tom Brady’s my friend why? Because I’m a good football player. He needs me to play football. People have different meanings of what friendship is,” Brown said of Brady.
Brown continued taking shots at Brady on social media, including shots at his personal life. Brady, for his part, responded with empathy, saying Brown needs help and expressing regret about how things unfolded.
Belichick’s spoiled milk story is a reminder of how that friendship started, two guys who genuinely seemed to have each other’s backs. What it doesn’t capture is how it ended, ugly, and a long way from a $5,000 gesture that was meant to mean something.
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