Tom Brady Pays the Price of Fame
June 6, 2007 by David Kindervater
Filed under New England Patriots
Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
The price of fame usually means an invasion of your personal life and in the case of New England Patriots QB Tom Brady, it’s no different. At Pats minicamp yesterday, Tom enjoyed talking about football, including his team’s embarrassment of riches at wide receiver. But, he shied away from the topic of becoming a father. And rightfully so. It’s really nobody’s business but Tom Brady’s. Because of his status as the starting quarterback of the three-time world champion New England Patriots, though, it suddenly becomes everyone’s business.
Just in case you missed it, Tom’s ex-girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan, is pregnant with his child. They split-up last year after three years of dating. From the podium of a post-practice presser, Tom said:
“I don’t want to talk about that much, guys. Let’s try to stick to why I’m up here. Life changes for everybody. There’s different things that everybody deals with in their life, you guys deal with, I deal with. I’m excited about this season, I’m excited about this year and, as with life and maturing, come other challenges as well. I’m just looking forward to seeing what this team is all about. I’m looking for a great year. People make money, pictures and magazines. Maybe there’s so many multimedia outlets at this point that everybody’s jockeying for the latest and greatest of whatever it might be. You just try to go through your life and learn and grow and mature. You have happy moments and you have moments that you learn from. Those are the challenges we all face, myself, my teammates, my family. You can only control the way you react toward it. I’m also very proud of the things that have gone on over the last 10 years of my life. I’ve got a great mom and dad, a great family and I’m very proud of the way they raised me.”
Well said. And expectedly so from someone who knows how to deal with the media. I got to participate in a conference call with Tom a couple years ago and he is still one of my favorite interviews of all-time. Sure, having a child out of wedlock is not the way Tom or his family would have drawn up his perfect life plan, but life doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. He is still a good guy, a positive role model, and arguably the best QB in the NFL.
Thank you. Great post!
How is he a positive role model? Are you saying that children should be led to believe what he’s doing is acceptable? What has American become to accept Tom Brady as a positive role model?
I understand your point and I’m not making light of the tremendous responsibility of bringing another life into the world. Nor am I saying this is the way to go about starting a family. But, I don’t believe fathering a child outside of marriage should classify Tom as a bad role model. It’s one blemish on an otherwise perfect record. Give the guy a break. He’s human. And lest we forget, so are we.
Tom is a fantastic role model, thanks for the great article!
tom is my role model. everyone makes mistakes and its big of him to handle it in a responsible way. ROle models arent perfect. They’re people just like us who persevere and that’s exactly what tom has done. Excellent article! I wish more people could see what you see!