On Tuesday, Tom Brady did a radio interview with WEEI (in Boston). I don’t have any frame of reference for this radio station or how friendly this conversation was supposed to be, but judging from the questions – and the lack of follow-up on some of Brady’s answers – I’d say this was definitely a very tightly managed interview. As in, Brady’s people told the radio station what they could ask and what Brady would not be commenting on, etc. The biggest headline (at a gossip level) is probably what Brady said about his marriage, although I’m also including some of his quotes about the Deflategate drama.
On rumors of marriage trouble with Gisele: “We’re in a great place. I’ll just say that. I’m a lucky man. I’ve been very blessed with support from my family and certainly her. There’s no bigger supporter than I have than her and vice versa. I’ve been very blessed to have an incredible relationship with my life partner. I don’t think anything would ever get in the way of that.”
Whether he thinks Deflategate was a “set-up”: “I have a lot of personal feelings about this and to get into every conversation everyone wants to have, you know, in a way I’ve had a lot of these conversations with people over the last seven months. You get kind of brought back into those emotions and those haven’t been the best emotions, they don’t serve me as the quarterback of the New England Patriots this week, so I have to put whatever I have aside and try to go out and do my job.”
Whether he has regrets about the Deflategate drama: “That’s a tough question and pretty personal, so, yeah, whatever has happened has taken the focus away from my team and what happened last year. So it should have been a very joyous offseason and I’m sure it was for a lot of people, and certainly was for me at different times, but some of those things are pretty personal.”
Whether the two Patriots employees fired during Deflategate should be rehired: “Of course. None of those things are my decision but I feel terrible for what they’ve been through, what their families have been put through. I know what my family has been put through, and what has happened but I just feel terrible they’re not with our team.”
[From the Daily Mail, NFL.com]
He was also asked if he would have been willing to take a one-game suspension or any kind of minor punishment provided he made some kind of admission of guilt in the Deflategate saga, to which Brady demurred and ended up saying: “I think I was advised not to talk about those things.”
Oh, and there are a lot of rumors that Brady is pro-Donald Trump. There was even a photo of one of Trump’s “Make America Great” hats sitting in Brady’s locker, and Trump has made a big deal about how much he loves Brady. Brady admitted in the interview that Trump had sent him the hat and they’ve known each other since 2002 when Brady “judged one of his beauty pageants.” When asked if he would vote for Trump, Brady said: “I don’t know. That’s a good question. Honestly he’s a great friend … spent a lot of time golfing together.”
Last thing – did Roger Goodell go hard on Brady and the Patriots this time because he helped cover up the Patriots’ misdeeds during the Spygate drama?
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
His head looks like that of Frankenstein.
I never believe it when celebs start saying how great their marriage is?
Sure, FrankenTom sure .
Lol
Yes, that is the LeAnn Rimes method of “doth protest too much.”
However, I will say, I have never seen two people who deserve each other so much, and that is not a compliment. I actually find her even more insufferable than him.
He doesn’t sound pro-Trump to me. Wouldn’t he have just said “yes” when asked if he would vote for him if he was? Or is that wishful thinking on my part?
Afraid so. He is listening to his people by staying apolitical on the subject of Ompa Lompa-ican (Thanks Stephen!!!).
Edit: Boy, was that court sketch artist DEAD ON.
I was hoping it was just delusions of grandeur on Trump’s part since he kept calling Tom a great friend. That hat displayed in Tom’s locker and Tom in turn calling Trump a great friend is really disappointing.
Brady hangs with the Shriver branch of the Kennedy family a lot so very likely not pro-Trump. Trump sent many of the players the hat
I just can’t get over how similar they look. They look like the same person. They both have really insincere faces.
yup, he’s a Trump supporter. If you’re not, you wouldn’t keep the campaign slogan hat in your locker on prominent display. gross.
ETA: thanks for linking that espn article…very interesting stuff. Bellicheat is an apt nickname for him.
What’s up with the header pic? G looks strangely small and he looks wide? Was she photoshoped in? And it looks like something/body took a bite out of her left arm.
Astrid- I had to go really look at the header pic after reading your comment. The bite out of her arm is his hair. That’s when it was longer and it hangs over her arm. I think she was working her angles and he was just completely facing the camera.
He is absolutely a Trump supporter. Here a quote:
‘It’s pretty amazing what he’s been able to accomplish as an entrepreneur and then as a television star and now running for political office,’ he said in an interview with a Boston sports talk radio station.
‘People who can do those types of things and transition into different arenas and still have that type of appeal and carry over — he’s obviously appealing to a lot of different people. He’s a helluva lot of fun to play golf with.’
http://www.pajiba.com/nfl/tom-brady-refuses-to-acknowledge-that-donald-trump-is-a-crazy-person.php
His answer regarding his marriage is all about him: I’M blessed, I’M lucky, I HAVE the best supporter. No mention on how much he loves and respects HER.
That says everything.
Well, that’s how most men talk about their marriages, it is about THEIR needs.
“Last thing – did Roger Goodell go hard on Brady and the Patriots this time because he helped cover up the Patriots’ misdeeds during the Spygate drama?”
Obviously. The ESPN story is devastating in depth and detail, proving at long last that the Belicheck-coached Pats have been seriously cheating for years. It’s clear that Brady gave this interview before that story hit the wires, but he’s not going to be able to duck it because he’s the Pats starting QB and he has to face the sports media and take all questions at least once a week, per NFL rules. Unless Belicheck and Kraft just up and confess–which they already have, actually–Brady is going to be barraged about the cheating all season.
This tanks the Pats chances of even getting back to the playoffs and puts a cloud over Brady’s eventual HoF credentials.
Yeah that article makes it clear there is a pattern of cheating in the Patriots.
How ironic that it was Goodell who tried to cover up the Pats cheating when they were first caught. Now it will cost him his job.
Anyway, investigating this morass will quickly be out of the hands of Goodell and the NFL owners. Congress is bound to step in and hold hearings. Just the legal sports betting aspect alone would warrant that, let alone the antitrust issues. We’re talking about dozens of games fixed, leading to six Super Bowl appearances. It’ll be bigger than the Black Sox scandal eventually.
The real question is whether Congressional pressure will force the NFL to strip the Pats of championships, like the NCAA had to with various “death penalty” cases of systemic rules violations. If all the proof in the article can be substantiated in court or in Congressional hearings, I’d say the likelihood of the Pats being stripped of trophies is pretty high.
Enjoy those rings while you still have ’em, Tommy.
The ESPN article has already been proven to have several inaccurate bits.
It cites nothing but anonymous sources. Probably the same ones who gave totally inaccurate info throughout all of this ball drama.
ESPN is full of crap these days. Look to ProFootballTalk for real information and good analysis of the crap being said by ESPN/NFL.
Yesterday was a total smear job. ESPN and Sports Illustrated dropped negative, paranoid articles within hours of each other, while Goodell went in the radio to openly lie some more. Planned attack
You post negatively about them on every article though so I’m not really expecting you to be objective or fair
Right, let the denials begin. The article details that Belicheck and Kraft confessed _to an owners group meeting_ that they had been cheating in multiple forms for eight seasons, and had been systematically covering up the cheating. We’re not talking anonymous sources, we’re talking multiple witnesses. Plus all the sources on individual teams who brought cheating complaints to the NFL front office. We already have accounts of that from non-ESPN media stories when Deflate-Gate first broke.
This is a major, well-researched expose, not some little hit piece. ESPN is the most authoritative broadcast sports media outlet around. Sure, I’d like to see a corroborating article from Sports Illustrated or the likes of the Times or Washington Post, but they’re just now catching up with ESPN’s exclusive.
This article is no fluke. I made the point repeatedly that there had been multiple media reports of much more serious cheating by the Pats. Now one source has put together all the pieces, or at least a lot of them. From the sounds of it there are more cheating allegations from complaining teams yet to be unearthed.
The way the pattern of cheating, cover-up and mis-investigation by the NFL front office is described, this is an either/or narrative. There are too many sources cited, too many interlocking pieces of the story for the chain of events to be only partially true.
Ehm, anonymous sources are what investigative journalism is all about. No Watergate scandal without Deep Throat.
Kraft didn’t confess to multiple ways of cheating, He apologized for videotaping from the sidelines.
ESPN has not been a leader for a while. They have put out biased pieces with no credibility.
Yes, anonymous sources are part of journalism. However, the anti-patriots sources have been talking to espn for almost a year, giving false or incomplete information. So ESPN anonymous sources are not to be trusted, especially when they’re discussing the Patriots. Adam Schefter is reliable but that’s about it.
These articles list all of the ways which teams SUSPECT patriots are cheating. And all of the ways which teams are scheming and trying to catch them at it. And they find NOTHING.
Multiple teams have supposedly swept the visitor locker room for bugs and even hired professional companies to do it. They have all come up empty. Teams hire extra security to scan for Patriots spy during practice and sneaking into the locker room. They have found absolutely nothing.
The fact that all of these suspicions are investigated by teams and they still don’t find anything says a lot. Teams are looking for the reason why the Pats continue to succeed and it’s all about game planning and working hard.
Brandon LaFell said that he and Darelle Revis(two new Pats last year) were driving home after practice with the Patriots and they were exhausted. They had never worked that hard in college or other NFL teams. And that hard work paid off when they won a SB.
This is excuses teams look for to explain their losses. They need to focus more on their team and less on the Patriots. There is no proof, just paranoid ramblings
Most exposes, as well as hard, political news features, cite anonymous sources. They have to, for fear of repercussions, that does not mean the sources are not legitimate. How many journalists have gone to jail protecting their sources?
There is always something with this team. Now, the question is, was is better or worse before Bellicheat became their coach? My inclination is to believe that things became worse once he arrived in New England. It seems everywhere he goes, scandal seems to follow, and he has burned many bridges in the league. His conduct is unscrupulous and unprofessional.
Oh please, there’s tons of proof already, and more coming. You have former Pats players and coaches confirming the signal stealing, playsheet theft, etc. Even the Boston Globe is treating this as a damaging expose. Your denial, Audrey, is pathetic.
However, the serious revelation is that Goodell covered up Pats cheating in order to dodge a Congressional investigation. That’s not an anonymous accusation; it’s backed up by statements from Mike Martz. Congress, who loves the easy headlines of investigating pro sports, are going to be on Goodell and the Pats like a ton of bricks. When supoenas start flying, all the lying will melt away and Belicheck and his murky minions–who the hell is this guy Adams anyway, Keyser Soze?–will be revealed.
Face it, Pats fans. Get real and face the music. This day was coming, and now it has come. All those championships will be permanently tainted, and may quite well be stripped. No HoF for Belicheck and at best a tarnished legacy for Brady.
Supposedly former coaches and players. The Patriots have had some bad endings with players and coaches. NONE have come out to speak openly. Even players who were traded or cut have said that this is crazy and ridiculous.
ESPN “sources” can’t be trusted these days. Please give any proof other than that.
My denial isn’t pathetic. It’s the truth. The biggest proof of their innocence is the fact that none of these other teams have found anything. Keep looking, keep finding nothing and the Patriots will keep winning
I don’t know what’s going on with Martz. His statement from 2008 is the same one being used today. If the statement was altered in 2008, I don’t know why he’s just saying that today.
Congress can investigate. The Pats aren’t doing anything wrong. The corruption is in the league office.
Yeah, sure Tom.
Sure.
Tom goes on this radio show every Monday morning during the regular season, unless they have a game. Dennis & Callahan asked great questions. Def not a “tightly managed” interview, more like no holds barred! Jeeze do some research.
ESPN is butthurt that they came out of this looking like the unreliable in pocket reporters that they are. Bringing up Spygate 7 years later is aa joke. Talk about getting over things!