I don’t ready Boston Globe sports much. It isn’t worth the $0.99/month they charge (after the 5 free articles) and I mostly hate their writers anyway. No, that’s not fair. I totally hate their writers.
But every so often I slip up or they’re quoted on other platforms, like Ben Volin’s deep psychological analysis of Brady’s body language in early camp action I came across on the CBS Sports site. It wasn’t on his Globe bio page but maybe Volin took a psychology class as an undergrad. I’m sure he’s a keen observer of the human condition. And there was a kernel of truth in the Q&A with Volin. It was when he said, “I can’t say for sure.”
My bigger mistake was hitting a link that took me to Dan Shaughnessy’s “When Will Tom Brady Break His Silence” piece.
Shaughnessy took the “blame the victim” route with Deflategate, writing that the Patriots brought “this overpunishment on themselves” (I’ll ignore the irony in “overpunishment” for the moment) and opining that “Tom Brady is tarnished forever.”
So now Shaughnessy wants Brady to share his feelings with him?
Well, not just with Shaughnessy but with all of us. Dan is the voice of the people, apparently. So I wondered...
Does Tom Brady owe us, the good citizens of Patriots Nation anything more than the Facebook post when he ended the legal process?
I'm very grateful for the overwhelming support I've received from Mr. Kraft, the Kraft family, coach Belichick, my coaches and teammates, the NFLPA, my agents, my loving family and most of all, our fans. It has been a challenging 18 months and I have made the difficult decision to no longer proceed with the legal process. I'm going to work hard to be the best player I can be for the New England Patriots and I look forward to having the opportunity to return to the field this fall.
Personally, I hope Brady maintains his silence with pigskin pundits and bobbleheads for as long as he can. I don’t know what the fines would be if Brady refused to meet with the media once he returns to the starting line up but regardless of his ability to carry that weight, I don’t see him doing anything that might embarrass the Patriots or give the NFL a reason to suspend him again.
I hope he refuses to answer any questions related to Deflategate and his suspension. Like ever.
Seriously, what good can come of it?
You have to think the League will be monitoring not only Brady’s word choice but for even the slightest hint of sarcasm.
As Shaughnessy noted, Brady isn’t “running for president, curing diseases, or protecting free society from evil-doers.” Brady won’t reclaim his good name and his rightful place in NFL history thanks to an up close and personal sit down with Dan Shaughnessy or Dr. Phil or Bill Simmons or Ellen DeGeneres. That’s what politicians do. That’s what celebrities do. Brady is a football player and he will make his case the only way he can; on the field.
Maybe Tom Brady is struggling with his incipient suspension and it’s caused him to become “withdrawn,” as Volin noted. Or maybe it’s made him even more “intense” than usual (is that possible?), as WEEI’s Ryan Hannable observed.
If anyone thought his pending four-game suspension would disengage him from his teammates and team in any way, that thought could not have been any more wrong.
At the risk of stating the obvious, it would seem Volin and Hannable were watching two different people.
The pigskin pundits and bobbleheads can surmise and suppose and decry the fact Tom Brady won’t explain it all for them but they have nobody to blame but themselves.
Where was the full-throated defense of the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, the man who has been the exemplar gratia of professional football, the solid citizen who gives back to his community, the doting father and family man? You think the Patriots brought this on themselves because they had the temerity to challenge the NFL on the facts? You wanted Brady to cut a deal, admit he was guilty of something and take a two-game suspension for the indefinable greater good. You still think, absent any factual proof that well, Brady probably did something; the real injustice is the draconian punishment doesn’t fit the misdemeanor crime?
You know you’re saying Brady is a cheat and a liar, don’t you? That’s that something you’re talking about.
Why, in any universe where science, facts, and sworn testimony should actually mean something, would Tom Brady take a moment to speak to you?
You can’t be so dense, so removed from reality, so full of yourself, so indifferent to the feelings of other people as to not understand this, could you?
Yeah, that was a rhetorical question.
Tom Brady will not be explaining himself to you. He won’t be debunking or validating your characterization of his performance on the practice field. He won’t be pissing on you even if you’re on fire.
He’ll be doing his job.
He’ll be playing football.
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