Maybe Tom Brady’s in political lockstep with Donald Trump. Maybe they share an ideological brain and there’s not a single Trump initiative Brady would change.
I don’t know and -- given Brady’s a quarterback/pitchman -- I don’t really care. Brady’s political bent won’t impact my view of Trump’s politics one way or the other.
And given that I’m a sportswriter, nobody needs to know my leanings, either. We all have our own life experiences that inform our political views and there’s no way to provide the context necessary in a 700-word column to adequately say why I feel the way I do about certain things. And there are topics I’d be so overmatched discussing -- trade, foreign relations, immigration, etc. -- that it would be arrogant to even presume to know enough to share my opinion openly as if it’s fully informed.
I do feel expert enough on Tom Brady’s personality, though, to take stock of Brady’s refusal to either endorse Trump’s politically or disavow the friendship.
It’s not about politics. It’s about loyalty to a friend -- not a politician -- and trying to maintain some damn peace and quiet.
As much as he might like to get himself on the record about Trump’s repellent comments made public last week, Brady’s not going to be forced at the point of a media bayonet to say something that feeds the content maw for a few days. One, because he tries to do things on his terms at this point in his life and, two, because he doesn’t need the headache after spending 20 months in the media spin cycle.
Oh, and three? He’s a stubborn Irishman.
New England Patriots
Find the latest New England Patriots news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
Is it naïve? Absolutely. If Brady wanted to remain apolitical, he’d shouldn’t have put a “Make America Great Again” hat out on display and tentatively said that a Trump presidency would be “great.” He probably didn’t expect Trump’s candidacy to catch fire and -- when it did -- attempts to distance himself from Trump’s politics were waved away.
Now it’s a pain in the ass, but one that Brady is resolutely dealing with without tipping his hand.
This morning on WEEI’s Kirk and Callahan Show, Brady revisited again his friendship with Trump.
"I met him probably 15, 16 years ago,” Brady explained. "We’ve played golf together many, many times and I’ve always had a good time with him. He’s been a friend of mine. He’s supported our team. He’s supported the Patriots. He’s been on the Patriots sideline a lot. He’s always called me after games to encourage me over the course of 15 years. That’s kind of the way it is."
Brady wouldn’t say who he was voting for nor would he allow himself to be led into opining on Trump being an alleged serial p**** grabber.
"The thing I’ve always thought is I don’t want to be a distraction for the team,” he said. “That’s what my goal is. Not that there are things I’ve said and done that haven’t been, but you try not to be. It’s just hard enough to win and prepare without the distractions so when you start having the distractions it’s even harder to prepare. You try to do the best that you [can] do."
Brady’s refusal to say something regarding Trump’s offensive comments (again, not Trump’s politics) hasn’t sat well and the suggestion was quickly made by writer Darin Gantt on Pro Football Talk that, “By not even expressing a polite level of discomfort with a man bragging about kissing and groping women whether they invited his advances or not, Brady has tacitly implied that it wasn’t a big deal to him.”
Sunday, Brady’s teammate and friend Troy Brown stopped short of alleging Brady approved of Trump’s comments. Brown did say he would have liked to hear more, though.
“I’d like to hear him say that 'I don’t condone those types of words',” said Brown in response to a question posed on our Pregame Live program. “There may be people out there who have had those kinds of things said in their locker room. I can tell you personally I have not experienced that in a locker room where guys have talked openly about sexually assaulting somebody. That’s not a locker room I’d ever been in. I played football since the second grade. I played football all my life. I never heard those terms to describe what they did to females or what they wanted to do to females. I’ve heard things about women’s appearance, but in terms of sexually assaulting women? I have not heard those types of things.
“So just something, a quick answer on the question to get it out of the way, just answer the question to say, ‘I don’t condone it' and then walk off the stage. The optics of it weren’t great. I understood what he was trying to do. But the next time he’s asked that question, then give a quick answer and let it be. I’m not responsible for what comes out of my friend’s mouth. But I am responsible for correcting my friend.”
I don’t know whether Brady will ever go on-the-record and “correct” Trump on his version of locker-room talk. Maybe deep down he’s thinking if he hadn’t willingly allowed Trump to glom onto him 15 years ago, he wouldn’t be dealing with this crap now.
But at the same time, Brady obviously enjoys the friendship. Fun guy, good golf, nice courses, great cigars and all that.
Saying nothing means remaining loyal to Donald Trump as a friend, protecting the brand and staying above the fray.
But saying something -- even something as simple as “I didn’t like the comments…” -- will be remembered longer than any cigar or round of golf.
For a man who’s been very much surrounded and formed by powerful, confident, capable women -- his mother Galynn, sisters Julie, Maureen and Nancy, his wife Gisele -- it’s unfathomable that Brady thinks for a nanosecond Trump’s comments aren’t a big deal.
He really ought to say so.
