There's typically a one-liner that he'll say in the midst of a much longer conversation, which prompts the gossip columns to write about his wife, child and possible baby on board. Or there's a reference to the high-profile lifestyle that Brady leads. Like on Tuesday morning in Foxborough, when an international reporter from London compared Brady's lifestyle to that of superstar soccer stud David Beckham, inferring that the two are very similar.
Brady chuckled his bellyaching laugh and said, "Well, not quite the same lifestyle." What, you mean to tell me Posh Spice and Gisele Bundchen are that different from one another on a global scale? I digress.
My point is that Tom Brady is a phenomenon, and for whatever reason, the media, his fans and people all over the world are infatuated with him. If I had any guts, I would ask Brady what he ate for breakfast at his weekly news conference with the media, because I guarantee it would end up as breaking news on some Web site. "I got the breakfast story … hooray!"
I am always anxious to see what parts of Brady's news conference end up on People magazine's Web site or on TMZ.com. Does he find as much humor in this situation as I do? More than likely he doesn't, and more than likely he's also not reading anything other than his game notes on the upcoming week's opponent. And if there's any "reading between the lines" going on by this sports reporter after listing to Brady on Tuesday, it is this:
Tom Brady is not taking a pay cut anytime soon. He didn't even do it the first time around, but because he's incredibly intelligent, Brady restructured his contract to help the team — as any competitive quarterback would have done — and somehow the public got the perception that he turned down money. Sure, Brady and the Patriots found a way to allocate the funds to acquire new weapons for No. 12 (enter Randy Moss), and more protection (secure Dan Koppen for a number of years), but don't think that any paid professional would willingly turn down money, let alone millions of dollars. Would you?
On Tuesday, Brady spoke about his contract situation. He was asked this question: If someone from the Patriots approached him about a new contract, would he tell them he would prefer to talk about it after the season?
Brady responded, saying, "If someone wants to pay you more money? I mean, I think we're all probably underpaid, don't you think? I mean, we all wish we were paid more, but that's not the reality. We're focused on this. I'm focused on this year."
Translation: no.
He was also asked how he felt about fellow quarterbacks Eli Manning and Philip Rivers signing massive contracts in recent months.
"I think it's great," he said. "It's great for those players. They've worked hard to deserve those. Any time a guy gets a contract, it's a pretty cool thing. I've had that experience a couple times. It really shows the health of the league. It shows that the league has grown in places like London, into Mexico, up in Canada. There's a lot of coverage and people enjoy watching the games, so I'm happy to be a part of it. The league's expanding and growing, and hopefully, I'll be able to participate for as long as somebody else wants me."
Translation: If the NFL makes as much money as I think they do, and I'm one of the marquee players in the league, then show me the money!
The bottom line is that Tom Brady is one of the most well-respected, talented, smart and genuine players to ever play this game. He is not only respected among his peers, but by other professional athletes around the world. The guy has even appeared on HBO's Entourage, for crying out loud. Hollywood loves him too.
But he's human. And when the three-time Super Bowl champ and future Hall of Famer goes into contract negations following the 2010 season, you can expect that he'll want to be paid. As I said before, wouldn't you?
