On Wednesday, the New York Daily News, ever on the march to eviscerate Donald Trump, went after his friend, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, headlining its front page, “Brady Has No Balls.”
The paper targeted Brady after he doubled down on his friendship with Trump on Tuesday, asserting, “I support my friends in everything they do.”
On Wednesday at his weekly press conference, Brady walked out after a reporter persisted in attempting to elicit an answer from Brady about his feelings regarding the Daily News cover. The exchange went like this:
Reporter: Tom, have you seen or heard about the cover of the Daily News, and how do you feel about people criticizing your relationship with Donald Trump?
Brady: I don’t think about it much. I got a lo—you know it’s a tough week, so I’ve got a lot of football stuff to think about. Hopefully, we can go out and beat the Titans, that’s the most important thing.
Reporter: You’ve kind of opened the door and talked about it…. You’ve kind of opened the door to some criticism. Do you regret opening the door when you do talk about it?
Brady: Like I said, I’m just here to play football. Thanks. (Leaves.)
Yahoo.com joined in to slam Brady, stating, “Were we giving Brady advice, we’d tell him to say that he likes Trump the person, but that he does not agree with the things Trump has said on the campaign trail, many of them xenophobic, racist, and misogynistic. Whether Brady agrees or not, by not condemning Trump’s comments, the perception is he is tacitly agreeing with them.”
Brady, of course, married a Brazilian model, Gisele Bundchen, which would seem to rebut any charge that he supports xenophobia.
Other media outlets have jumped on the bandwagon to pillory Brady for his support of Trump, including David Steele of the Sporting News, who viciously attacked Brady, writing,
Brady now thinks he’s avoiding choosing sides by saying, oh, Donald Trump is just “a good friend.’’ He’s way wrong. He’s attached to Trump now. He can’t just detach himself because it’s getting uncomfortable and inconvenient. And if he wants to stay buddy-buddy with the most polarizing man in America, the man who’s looking and sounding more and more like Helms on steroids, he’d better be ready to handle the baggage that comes with it.
Steele threatened, “If he’s willing to stand by his support of Trump, he’d better be ready to suffer the consequences.”