FOXBORO, Mass. — The first half of Tom Brady’s weekly Wednesday morning news conference featured questions about the Seattle Seahawks, turnovers and the New England Patriots’ tight ends. The second half was nothing but Trump.
Brady fielded roughly a half-dozen questions regarding his relationship with Donald Trump, who was declared the winner of the 2016 presidential election early Wednesday morning.
Asked point-blank whether he supported Trump in the lead-up to election day, the Patriots quarterback deferred to his wife, Gisele Bundchen.
“Talk to my wife, she said I can’t talk about politics anymore,” Brady said. “I think that’s a good decision made for our family.”
More from Brady’s presser:
On his reaction to the election results, which featured Trump upsetting Hillary Clinton:
“I’m always, I think, a very positive person. think these are certain times for our country where there’s always change and transition, and it happens, obviously, with the presidents every four years or so. And I think I’m always happen when people experience success. I was happy when President (Bill) Clinton won. I was happen when Barack Obama won twice. When President (George W.) Bush. I think it’s all competition. I was happy when the Cubs won, even though I’m not a Cubs fan. I was happy when the Cavaliers won.
“I think just as athlete, you realize that a lot of people put a lot of things into competition, and when people go at it, you have respect for whatever outcomes there are. And I think one thing that’s been a hallmark of our team is we’ve never finished games and then blamed other people. You always give respect to your opponent and try to do better the next time.”
On Trump’s support of the Patriots in the past:
“He’s been in our locker room for a long time, absolutely. He’s been to a lot of games over the years and been in our locker room a lot. Certainly at some of our bigger games, even going up against the Jets and stuff like that. That was long before he was ever a politician, too. Like I said, you develop relationships with lots of different people, and I’ve certainly come in contact with a lot of different people over the years. Some become your friends and you keep in touch with, and some you don’t.”
On the potential for locker-room distraction in the wake of the election:
“Well, I think you have a lot of respect for the guys, and I certainly do, that I’ve always had for everybody in our locker room. We’re all on the same team. We’re all from different places, different backgrounds, different ages, ethnicities, beliefs. But when you come in a locker room, you’re all trying to put whatever feelings you have about anything aside to try to accomplish a common goal. And I think we talk a lot about distractions, because that takes away from your focus on what those goals may be. We have a very close locker room, and it needs to be that way. Some of the best teams I’ve ever been around have the closest locker rooms.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
