Despite a “Make America Great Again” hat being spotted in his locker early in the campaign, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has tried to keep under wraps his support of Donald Trump in the closet.
The Later-Today-To-Be-President outed Brady last night.
“Your friend Tom [Brady] just called,” Donald Trump said at a Thursday night black-tie dinner, in comments directed to Patriots owner Robert Kraft. “He feels good. He called to congratulate us. He feels good.”
How Brady and/or Mrs. Brady feel about that comment remains to be seen.
“I’m not talking politics anymore, guys,” Brady said in November, via Phill Perry of CSNNE.com. “I’m just not. I got other things to worry about. Just speaking with my family, it’s just a bad idea. I know, you guys, I told you I would, then after I told you I would, I changed my mind.”
In September 2015, Brady made it clear that he’s not interested in or knowledgeable about politics.
“I don’t even know what the issues are. I haven’t paid attention to politics in a long time,” Brady said. “It’s actually not something that I really even enjoy. It’s way off my radar. . . .
“I try to have fun with certain things, you know, but some things a lot of times get taken out of context. I think you are just more careful with what you say because you don’t want certainly a big headline with you as saying something that’s going to take the attention away from your teammates or what you’re trying to do.”
On one hand, there’s nothing wrong with calling the incoming president to congratulate him the incredibly rare honor, privilege, and power he’s about to receive. Whenever a personal friend is about to become the President of the United States, it’s probably a good idea to at least give him a phone call.
On the other hand, the potential for friction and distraction when it comes to such a polarizing figure (and, hopefully, Americans who otherwise can agree on little can at least agree that he’s polarizing) makes it smart to keep that support under wraps. Which Brady had successfully done in recent months. Until last night.
It surely won’t matter come Sunday night. But it also surely gave Brady at least a mild cringe to hear that Trump had shared with the public a phone call that Brady undoubtedly intended to be private.