Adding to the many, many topics that Donald Trump has touched on thus far during his campaign for president, on Thursday the real estate mogul came out in favor of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady saying he’s a “great guy” and slamming how he’s been treated.
As he cruises across the country with his burgeoning campaign for the GOP nomination for president, Donald Trump has commented on a myriad of subjects, some important to his campaign, others not so much. Now Trump has decided to wade into the battle between the embattled Brady and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Saying that Brady was “a great friend of mine,” Trump told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, “I think it is terrible the way they’ve treated him.”
Trump said that he “always” chooses Brady when he plays fantasy football and dismissed the Deflategate controversy. “This country has bigger problems,” Trump said in the Thursday interview.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Brady after the NFL’s attorney/investigator Ted Wells judged it “more probable than not” that the quarterback knew of a scheme to under-inflate game balls, presumably so that they would be easier for him to handle on the field.
Goodell suspended the Super Bowl champ for his part in the deflation of the balls, but a back and forth between Brady’s camp and the league continues on when the suspension will begin, for how long he’ll be suspended, and for just what it is he is accepting a suspension for. Some wonder if the suspension will stick, particularly given Judge Richard Berman’s tough questioning of the NFL’s lead lawyer.
As for Trump, he believes that Brady has been mistreated during the whole situation.
“I think it’s ridiculous the way they’ve treated him,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s a friend of mine, he’s a great friend of mine. He’s a great guy. I think it is terrible the way they’ve treated him.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com