As you probably know, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when so many of us needed a little bit of good news, Tom Brady left the Patriots and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
I’m a little annoyed.
I’ll probably find my way to respecting and appreciating him again. After all, he brought six championship to my beloved New England Patriots, and luckily, I have been sitting in the stands for the vast majority of his games over the last two decades. I’ve spent countless Sundays cheering for him and his teammates, and I have loved almost every minute of it.
But at the moment, I’m annoyed. After two decades with a single team, he can’t finish off his career in New England? I find myself hoping that he fails miserably with that godforsaken football franchise in Florida.
But there is one silver lining to this miserable turn of events:
With Brady’s departure, there is one fewer Donald Trump supporter connected with the Patriots.
Trump and Brady met back in in 2001 when Trump asked Brady to judge a Miss USA competition. In the years that followed, Trump would call to congratulate Brady after games and would frequent the sidelines of Patriots games before the two started playing golf together in 2004.
Trump asked Brady to speak at the 2016 Republican National Convention, but Brady wisely declined.
Trump got Scott Baio instead.
Still, the two have been friends for a very long time. Reporters even found a MAGA hat in his locker back in 2016.
During an interview with Howard Stern last week, Brady was asked about his friendship with Trump.
Brady said:
“I got brought into a lot of those things because it was so polarizing around the election time. It was uncomfortable for me. You can’t undo things. And not that I would undo a friendship, but the political support is totally different than the support of a friend.”
I actually agree with Brady to a degree. As a Democrat, I have friends who are staunch Republicans, but our political differences have never stood in the way of our friendship.
None of those Republican friends are Trump supporters, of course, but that only makes sense. I choose friends based upon their intellect, moral compass, and decency. Those qualities – at least in abundance – preclude anyone from being a Trump supporter.
But here is where Brady and I differ:
If my dearest, lifelong friend stole from his own charity, operated a fake university that stole millions from innocent Americans, separated families at the border and placed children in cages, referred to Nazis as “very fine people,” bragged about committing sexual assault, cheated on all of his wives, publicly denigrated war heroes and Gold Star families, paid hush money to porn stars, had more than two dozen claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault pending investigation, and still didn’t know the difference between a bacteria and a virus in the midst of a global pandemic, HE WOULDN’T BE MY FRIEND ANYMORE.
I would drop that corrupt, immoral, unethical thief and ignoramus in a heartbeat. Friendship be damned.
Brady apparently doesn’t possess the same scruples as I do. He’s fine with all that.
So no, I still haven’t come to terms with Tom Brady’s departure from the Patriots. I’m still angry. I still hope that his team fails to make the playoffs and the Patriots return to the Super Bowl with a shiny, brand new quarterback.
But I know I’ll eventually come around. When I can push my feelings aside and gain some perspective, I will find my way to respecting and honoring the many, many Sundays when Tom Brady brought joy to my life.
But until then, the fact that another soulless friend and supporter of Donald Trump is gone makes this bitter pill a little easier to swallow.
