In every major sports city in the world, there’s one athlete who stands above the rest. The fans love them, the media thinks they can do no wrong, everything is sunshine and rainbows because this person exists. In Cleveland, it’s Lebron James. In New York, it was (and honestly still is) Derek Jeter. In Boston? You would think it’s Tom Brady. The only problem is the media seemingly can’t stand him.
This isn’t anything new either. For years, people in the media have used every chance they can to stir up controversy, mock, or take a dig at Brady and even his family. The most recent, and by recent I mean this season, have honestly pushed me over the edge.
Leading up to the Super Bowl, Tom Brady and his camp released episodes 1-4 of his mini-documentary titled “Tom vs. Time.” For those who haven’t seen it, episode one opens up with Brady’s five-year-old daughter Vivianne yelling “Daddy!” as she gets ready to go to soccer. Nothing out of the ordinary here, any five-year-old girl would do the same. Hell, I did when I was younger. Apparently, though, some had an issue. WEEI radio host Alex Reimer called Viv an “annoying little pissant.” If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry neither did I. The dictionary definition of “pissant” is an insignificant or contemptible person or thing. It doesn’t stop there though. This morning as I was scrolling through my news feed I saw a tweet from the Boston Globe that almost made me spit out my coffee. Joan Vennochi wrote in the opinions column, “If Tom Brady didn’t want his daughter talked about, he shouldn’t have put her in a documentary.”
This all has to be a joke, right? Some sick joke that we’re going to laugh about when Brady’s all done and retired? He must be paying these people off to talk crap about him day in and day out just for extra motivation. I mean, Felger and Mazz, Tomase and Reimer, all those idiots have to be getting something.
Except no. Because that’s ridiculously crazy. This is real life. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Just to put it into perspective, let’s talk about these two events in history… Whether it’s true or not, does anyone remember how hilarious and great the New York media thought it was when reports of Jeter sending his one-night stands home with gift baskets came out…? Jeter has gone on to deny this obviously, but could you just IMAGINE if this had been Brady? The guy was basically crucified for ending his relationship with Bridget Moynahan with a baby on the way. Even now he’s getting slammed for kissing his kids on the lips.
While that was a few years ago, we have something even more recent to compare this too. Lebron’s Instagram post was something that drove me crazy when it first came out, and honestly still does. Congratulating yourself before you’ve even hit a career milestone is crazy, even if you’re the greatest player in your sport. What if Brady posted an Instagram this week congratulating himself on a sixth ring? Would people be as ok with that as they were with Lebron?
It’s so nuts to me that this even needs to be addressed. As a local network, you’re supposed to lean more towards the side of “kissing the ground he walks on” instead of “nitpicking every move he makes and criticize it.” The fact of the matter is the city of Boston will never see an athlete the likes of Brady again, probably ever. Why not celebrate that? Sure there are times where criticism is necessary, but it gets a little ridiculous when it’s day in and day out.
This clearly bothers me. It bothers the heck out of me. But obviously, that doesn’t matter because you know who it doesn’t bother? The man at the center of it all. In each of the “Tom vs. Time” episodes that have been posted, he’s used audio clips of people from the local and national stations calling him and his team out.
Year in and year out what have we seen from #12? Hate turns into motivation, motivation turns into winning, and winning turns into rings. So, while it’s insane some people in this city bash Brady constantly, do us all a favor and keep it up.
