Tom Brady made headlines two weeks ago when the superstar quarterback made remarks that appeared to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. During a media session at Gillette Stadium, reporters noticed Trump’s “Make America Great Again” cap in Brady’s locker. This prompted a question regarding whether Brady thought Trump had what it takes to win the presidential election.
“I hope so,” replied Brady. “It would be great. There would be a putting green on the White House lawn, I’m sure of that.”
While Brady’s smirk suggested that his words should not be taken too seriously, a number of media outlets ran with the headline that the reigning Super Bowl MVP was endorsing Donald Trump. This morning, Brady addressed his prior remarks during his weekly radio interview on WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan morning show.
“It’s just a different world than when I started in professional football,” said Brady. “Even an off-handed comment like that, I understand why people do run with it because you get the clicks and that type of stuff. It’s just people doing their job. A comment like that, I try to have fun with certain things.”
Brady then continued, “some things a lot of times get taken out of context and so I think you are just more careful with what you say because you don’t want certainly a big headline with you as saying something that is going to take the attention away from your teammates and what you’re trying to do. I think that’s always a pretty selfish thing that maybe individuals do in team sports is when it’s about them, their comment, their dance or their opinion on something. And everyone is just trying to accomplish the same thing.”
Brady has been noticeably reticent with the media since the start of the 2015 NFL season. The quarterback excused himself from the post-game interview with NBC following the Patriots’ victory on opening night, giving tight end Rob Gronkowski the stage. Both of his media sessions following New England’s wins against Buffalo and Jacksonville were cut short, with Brady taking the bare minimum of questions from reporters. Many have speculated that Brady’s hesitancy to be interviewed stems from the harsh treatment he received from the national media in the wake of the Deflategate scandal.
Brady’s comments to WEEI may have shed some light on his recent tight-lipped approach with the media. “When you’re speaking publicly, you have a lot of people listening and I think it’s probably in everyone’s best interest, in today’s day and age, to say as little as possible. I think that’s just the way it is and the way our culture is right now. Because everything is really out there and that’s just the way it is.”
Brady was then asked in a follow-up question if his comments from two weeks ago were indeed an endorsement of Donald Trump.
“Again, it’s, I mean look, I’ve known him for a long time. He’s been a fun guy that I’ve had a lot of time around,” Brady replied. “The fact that he’s running has obviously led to a lot of stories and debates and ratings were huge for all those Republican debates and so forth.”
“One way or another, it’s so far away from when the election will be. Whatever I vote is going to be my own personal choice based on how I feel. I don’t even know what the issues are. I haven’t paid attention to politics in a long time. It’s actually not something that I really even enjoy. It’s way off my radar.”
Brady’s last comments were particularly interesting in light of the speculation that he missed the Patriots’ recent trip to the White House due to a dislike of President Obama’s politics. Per Brady, he did not attend due to a “family commitment”.
