Look as a liberal leaning person, I could be friends with a Bush, McCain, Ryan and the like but Trump is not a conservative. He is a bully, a racist, not to mention his attitude towards women. I hope I am wrong about Tom and hopefully as he has seen who Trump really is has changed his opinion of him because I love Tom as an athlete.
He had a hat in his locker for a day a year ago. Completely the same as Schilling being batshit insane, collecting Nazi gear, posting hate meme's on Twitter and Facebook, being a racist, getting suspended for it, then getting fired for it, being insane on Periscope then starting a "show" on independent radio about politics/sports.
Yeah, I'm liberal leaning as well and I think Trump is a piece of shit, so please don't mistake my angle here. But Brady having a Trump hat in his locker - before he came full force on his bigotry and misogyny and racism and everything else - doesn't mean he aligns himself with his views. He's made comments a while ago about his friend Trump, but - at the risk of being ignorant again, like I was on Papi making comments - I don't recall seeing him publicly endorse his agenda or views. To say he is "friends" with Trump probably means he played golf a few times with him and had a drink at some kind of gala. I don;t think they were hanging out and watching the games during the suspension.
I don't think anybody said that what Brady did is totally analogous to what Schilling did, just that there are certain things which are beyond the pale. TB was asked about Trump specifically as it related to something outlandish he said around the time of the hat incident - not gonna look it up, but pretty sure it was either the wall or the religious test on immigration. TB's response was to refuse comment on the actual politics of it and basically back away and try to ignore it. But, importantly, before that he had explicitly said it would be "great" if Trump became president. So he gave an explicit endorsement and then simply demurred when pressed on the batshit politics of the guy he endorsed. And has been trying to ignore it ever since.
When Brady said it would be great if Trump won, he was joking. The joke was Trump will install golf courses at the white house and when the Patriots win a super bowl, they will get invited to meet the president. Therefore, Brady will be able to play golf. That was the joke, but it became something that the press used to prove that Brady supports trump.
Remember, too, that Kraft is a friend of Donald's. In fact, Kraft likely introduced Brady to Trump. And by all accounts, Brady and Kraft are close.
I don't think this is obvious from the video, which is here:
Let's be real here, Brady knows who Trump is and has been buddies with him long before this. He only wants to avoid being publicly linked to him now because it's a hassle. Kraft didn't make him have a decade-long friendship with the guy. BB, Kraft and Brady all love Trump. So do most of the white people in the NFL. And they all deserve shit for it at this point because Trump is a toxic, criminal goon who is literally empowering white supremacists and fascists on a daily basis.
Right, it was a gotcha question about the eye-catching piece of campaign material that Brady chose to prominently display in exactly the place where he talks to the national media four times a week. There was no possible way he could have anticipated being asked about it.
Of course he anticipated the question. Doesn't mean he was obligated to answer it.
I don't think this tangent is going anywhere, so I think we can agree to disagree pretty soon and move on... but I will say this, Brady is the one who brought this issue into public with his decision to put that hat in his locker. And he allowed it to continue as an issue with his bullshit non-answers and unwillingness to give a simple, straightforward response like the one scotian suggested above, at any point in the 12 months that followed. I don't know that I would say he's "obligated" to do anything, but I absolutely think he deserves every bit of hassle he gets for this and much more, so I don't think the "gotcha" nature of the question that you noted in your earlier response really mitigates his actions in any way.
I don't necessarily disagree. Bringing the Trump hat was not a good move. It makes the asking of the question a semi-reasonable exercise for any reporter and obviously a topical one. But with that said, once the question was asked he had two options:
Yeah I popped in expecting to see something quite a bit different. For instance, whether people were more sad about Tom Brady or David Ortiz retiring.
This is the perception within New England, but not outside of it. And it kind of encapsulates the reason the Patriots get hated on so much more than the Red Sox on a national level. There are a lot of reasons, of course, but the constant assertion that they are the cultural face of Boston and/or New England displays an arrogance that permeates the Patriots franchise, local media and even the fans.
Did he bring the Trump hat to the locker room to display it publicly? Or did he get some stupid thing mailed to him at work that he then shoved into his locker without giving it a second thought like he probably does with a million other things?
Doesn't matter. It's better to claim that because he had that hat, Brady must be some sort of racist misogynist because there's a chance he may disagree with the majority here over tax policy.
Brady already answered this and said it was the latter.
The inability of most TB apologists on this issue to 1) parse the public statements in a remotely credible way or 2) characterize the opinions of his critics without resorting to extreme hyperbole kind of speaks for itself.
As does the inability of his cartoonish detractors to see how hysterically foolish their attempts to use his failure to un-endorse someone who he never endorsed as evidence of some significant character flaw. But I guess referring to someone as a "twat" doesn't count as hyperbole.
Unlike the people trying to swat this away with ad hominems and false equivalences, I took the time to post the full source material in this thread and gave a detailed timeline of the events in question. If that's "hysterical" and "cartoonish," then I don't know what your post is supposed to be.
Sort of like how its easier to feel better about your argument by distorting what's clearly being said and arguing against that instead. Somebody should give a name to that sort of argument, I'd do it if I only had a brain.
To his credit, nothumb did not call Brady a "twat", which another poster did. There's also been a lot of self-righteous faux-outrage over how Brady did not answer a dumb question at a press conference. To his credit, nothumb did put some facts out there, but then he later labeled everyone that offered an alternative explanation a "Brady apologist". But since you ignored all that, how 'bout this:
Yeah, I called him a twat. He is. Showing a thorough lack of conviction about anything on the subject set against an obvious attempt at a boost for his golf buddy makes him a twat. Since the conversation was never specifically about Brady being a good/ bad person and certainly contained zero "self-righteous faux-outrage," those that are reacting like it is all they can see are, in fact, "Brady apologists." It is a perfect use of the term in this instance.
How about your keep your lame comments relevant to the argument instead of continuing to do your poor job of being thread police.
Wait, I should keep the comments relevant to the argument? Dude you bursted in here with the LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE stuff when that isn't even approaching what people were clearly trying to discuss. I'm trying to help you here.
Your source material is regurgitation of common knowledge from last year. Nothing new. Since the hat kerfufel, and his comments basically stating how cool it would be if his friend was elected president, he has said or done nothing that would constitute an official endorsement. No appearances at rallies, not commercials, no appearance at the RNC. Nothing. I can't source links for things that didn't happen. You and others have suggested that he has formally endorsed Trump, and therefore has some moral obligation to condemn/un-endorse him. I disagree wholly with that interpretation. Beyond that, I don't care at all who likes him or doesn't. Means zero to me. My interest in him is basically limited to Sunday afternoons. And for the record, I'll miss Papi more. Because baseball and the Red Sox matter to me a bit more than football does.
"No YOU'RE the angry one!" Sure, that always works.
Your premise was so utterly fucking moronic in the first place, it deserved the all scorn that can be heaped upon it. Adults don't invest anything much in professional athletes beyond their on field talent. You apparently view sports as some morality play. I pointed out your childish silliness. You've responded by resorting to cheap snark regarding my tongue in cheek avatar twice now, declaring yourself too smart to continue, and declaring that anyone who thinks your arguments have been weak and unconvincing "doesn't, grasp the flow of the conversation" So by all means cupcake, please tap out. You won't be missed.
