Jul 10
24
Brady Following the Media’s Advice – He’s Holding Out
As training camp nears, Patriots fans have been anxious about whether or not quarterback Tom Brady would show up in Foxboro, or if he’d hold out due to the lack of a new contract.
It appears we know the answer – he’s not coming.
“I’ve been hearing [from the media] the entire offseason that I shouldn’t show up for camp,” said the two-time Super Bowl MVP. “ESPN & Yahoo are both pretty huge companies, and they usually know what they’re talking about. They made it sound like it all made sense, so now I’m going take that advice and wait it out. The ball is in [the Patriots] court.”
Sources close to Brady have reportedly said that the New England signal caller is unhappy that the Patriots brass hasn’t come to the table with a deal yet, blaming the league’s labor situation as the reason. Brady’s generally a guy who likes to keep things quiet, and he’s going to figure out who those “sources” are.
“You know, you tell someone something and you expect them to not go off and talk about it,” said a clearly agitated Brady. “Look, like I’ve said, I know I’m overpaid. But I think I should at least be overpaid close to as much as what Peyton [Manning] is getting. After all, I don’t think I’ve ever thrown a pick late in a Super Bowl that got returned for a touchdown. He’s definitely got me beat there.”
“And I’m definitely not taking less than what [Sam] Bradford gets. I mean you read the articles, that doesn’t make any sense either.”
Brady, who is also from California, was always a big Joe Montana fan growing up and followed the 49ers – something that many reports have pointed out. Prior to those reports, Brady had never even pondered going there, but those reports set off his wife, Gisele Bundchen, who felt that California would be better than living in New England.
“I didn’t realize I had so much control over him,” said Bundchen. “I read one of those articles and told him I wanted him to consider moving – and he didn’t argue.”
“It makes sense, I make a lot more money than he does,” laughed Bundchen. “I should have a say in controlling his career. We have a baby now – warmer weather means more time outside with him if Tom’s playing football out west. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it sooner.”
“You all know what the weather is like here,” continued Brady. “It’s cold, it’s miserable, it snows. I mean I hadn’t even thought about going to the 49ers before now, but heck – my son is back there…I read another one of those articles and it just all made so much sense.”
The idea of a move back west got Brady thinking. He wouldn’t be on a plane as much, and would be able to spend more time with his other son – who lives there with his mother, Bridget Moynahan. He could easily take over the offense, since it’s not exactly tough supplanting a guy like Alex Smith. Not to mention the fact that he read that a trip to the Super Bowl was more or less in the bag.
“I think I’d be a good fit there,” said Brady when asked about the possibility of playing for San Francisco. “I read an article online about that, and one of the guys said I’d make them instant Super Bowl contenders. I mean that’s what we all work for, so if all it takes is for me to join them to get there, then I guess sign me up.”
A lot of that talk is still pretty premature. Brady is still under contract for one more season, and also has a great relationship with owner Robert Kraft, and Bill Belichick. – not to mention the friendships he has with his teammates. But Brady says it’s going to take more than silly little things like that to keep him here.
“[The media] has done a pretty good job of convincing me of what I need to do,” said Brady. “They’ve sold me on the idea of holding out, now it’s going to be up to [the Patriots] to sell me on staying here.”
“I’ve trusted ESPN since I was a kid. I think I’ll take their advice and see how it goes.”