Has Tom Brady been holding out on us all these years?
Shannon Sharpe certainly believes so, and it’s hard to argue with him.
Ever since joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady has seemed less filtered than he was during his days with the New England Patriots. Events like The Match: Champions for Charity have helped humanize a man who once seemed like a perfected football cyborg.
“Has anyone ever thought this might be the real Tom Brady, not the guy (who was) suppressed and was so guarded over the last 20 years?” Sharpe said during Thursday’s “Undisputed” episode on FS1. “Yes, he was very guarded. Yes, he did not let a lot of people into his circle. But I can assure you, the very people that was in Tom Brady’s circle for the last 20 years — they still remain.
” … Sometimes people put on a persona — but remember, perception is a person’s reality. But that’s not always the truth. The perception that they have of Tom Brady — that he’s guarded, he’s ‘golly-gee-wiz’ — maybe this was Tom Brady all along.”
"Maybe this is the real Tom Brady, not the guy who was suppressed and so guarded over the last 20 years. Maybe the Tom Brady we're watching right now who was mic'd up and posting more on IG is the real thing and the other guy was a sham."
— @ShannonSharpe pic.twitter.com/oxxGG1O9lV
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) May 28, 2020
At the end of the day, very few Patriots players are in real life what they portray to be. People like Rob Gronkowski are the outliers.
Still, it’s not like the “real” Tom Brady is all that more fascinating than the “fake” version.