Brady ‘certainly disagrees’ with Trump
This weekend, every National Football League player and team had to make a decision about what to do during the national anthem: whether to stand, kneel, sit, lock arms or just remain in the locker-room.
And perhaps no one’s decision was more closely watched than Tom Brady’s.
On Monday morning, he made his most extensive public comments so far about the controversy.
Brady is probably the highest profile player in the league, a five-time Super Bowl winner and the quarterback of the New England Patriots, a team fans love to love, or love to hate.
He is also someone with a well-documented friendship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who had prompted the showdown over the anthem with a scolding of the handful of players who had chosen not to stand earlier in the season.
Brady on Sunday locked one arm with wide receiver Phillip Dorsett and used the other one to put his hand over his heart during the anthem. Trump later made clear that he approved of linking arms, though not kneeling.
Brady spoke Monday morning on the Kirk & Callahan show on WEEI. He said of Trump’s remarks: “Yeah, I certainly disagree with what he said. I thought it was just divisive. Like I said, I just want to support my teammates. I am never one to say: ‘Oh, that is wrong. That is right.’ I do believe in what I believe in. I believe in bringing people together and respect and love and trust. Those are the values that my parents instilled in me. That is how I try and live every day.”
“We’re all different, we’re all unique. That is what makes us all special.”
“Everyone deals with different challenges in their life and you respect everyone’s opinions and views,” he said. “You don’t have to agree with everything. It’s hard to agree with your own wife on everything from day-to-day. I have so much respect for my teammates and what we’re trying to accomplish. Hopefully we can keep marching toward this end of the season, keep making improvements, get better and win more football games.”
“If you don’t agree, that is fine. You can voice your disagreement, I think that is great. It’s part of our democracy. As long as it is done in a peaceful, respectful way, that is what our country has been all about.”
After the anthem Sunday, Brady led the Patriots to a come-from-behind 36-33 victory over the Houston Texans in Foxborough, Mass.
Despite his friendship with Trump, Brady’s vote in the last election remains something of a mystery. Trump claimed Brady backed him, but Brady’s wife, the model Gisele Bundchen, denied that.