There was once a time where I had tremendous respect for Tom Brady. What the Patriots have achieved during his tenure will no doubt be looked upon as one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sports when all is said and done. No matter what, that has to be respected to some degree. Unless you’re an AFC East fan, you’ve gotta acknowledge that and you’re low-key gonna miss it when it’s finally over.
That said, I lost a big chunk of that respect when Brady refused to shake Nick Foles’ hand after the Super Bowl. It was a very unsportsmanlike, toddler move that made him look like a sore loser. Sure, you could write it off as an emotional response; but you’d think a guy who has played in more Super Bowls than any other quarterback would know how big a game that was, right? He personally played one of the greatest games of his career and lost to a backup QB with a great backstory and a city hungry for a Championship like no other. All Brady had to do was give Foles and the Eagles the respect they deserved and he’d be respected here, but he couldn’t do that.
Did he finally do it before a preseason game? Sure, but Brady is supposed to be the global ambassador for the game. He had to know how big of a moment that was and an athlete of his caliber should have respect for his opponent. He claims he wasn’t trying to be a bad sport, but I don’t buy it and frankly; that’s not an excuse. Brady markets himself as Mr. good sport when he wins and is no where to be found when he loses. Weak sauce.
Sportsmanship aside, this whole thing really opened my eyes to how much of a weirdo Brady is. I was ready to brush the whole making out with his kid incident aside, but now I can’t stop seeing how strange the dude is.
Everything he says is like a Shakespeare monologue. He talks like the public is analyzing every single word that comes out of his mouth and basically just films a one man reality show every second of his life.
For example, he recently uploaded a video to Instagram of him breaking down a clip from one of his family ski trips. He wiped out – causing the snow to be clipped with roughing the passer – and talked about how he needs to get his form up to that of Lindsey Vonn. Basic stuff, but the way he talks just freaks me the fuck out, man.
Every word is emphasized, the reactions seem forced and it more or less just seems like a plug for Lindsey Vonn. Why is every second of dude’s life a reality show? Why does he talk with this voice that sounds like a little league coach who you suspect is a serial killer? It’s just non-stop weirdness from Brady and it seems like he’s playing a character at this point.
This was incredibly apparent after this past Super Bowl victory. Even in the lead-up to it he just didn’t even seemed phase. It felt like he was already retired and is making a documentary about his career. All of his press conferences and interviews had that over-dramatic feel to them and he just didn’t seem to care.
It was the same thing post-game. Gave answers to questions like he’s in a movie and even managed to look like a weirdo in Disney World of all places. Him and Edelman dressed up in robes and had fake light-saber battles. Was it supposed to be a fun thing? Sure, but it just felt uncomfortable. It was one of those things where a celebrity/rich person is trying to blend in with the peasants and just fails miserably at it.
On the real though, I just hope that he’s just on some euphoric, end of career trip and that he doesn’t continue down this weirdo path. Could you imagine your kids seeing Tom Brady as that weird guy on TV? I really hope it doesn’t come to that but I can’t say it wouldn’t be funny.
But at the end of the day, who cares? He’s still the best quarterback to ever play the game and one of the most accomplished athletes in sports. If he wants to talk like a weird-ass and act like a robot, he can knock himself out.