MIAMI — If you follow me on social media or have ever had a conversation with me about football, then chances are you know I’m a Tom Brady guy. I think he’s the GOAT, I loved his UGGs ads with real goats, I’ve argued with people that he only has gotten even better looking with age, which I’m quite jealous of, and I’m just all things No. 12.
Which makes what I’m about to say all that much harder.
Brady put out a cryptic photo of himself on social media Thursday night that had fans wondering what it meant about the QB and his future. The appeared to show the QB either walking to the field at Gillette Stadium, or away from the field as it instantly became football’s version of that blue dress/yellow dress thing that went viral a few years ago.
But here’s what that photo really seemed to be – a desperate plea for attention by a 42-year-old QB who really doesn’t need anymore attention. Especially not right now.
It was just… very unlike Tom Brady.
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 30, 2020
Here we are in the tail end of a Super Bowl week that doesn’t include the Patriots for the first time in three years. Brady posting this photo really feels like a guy who is missing out on being the story heading in the big game. While the rest of the football world celebrates the season in Miami, Brady sits somewhere that isn’t Miami and posts a photo (or has his social team post a photo) that just seems sad.
This photo instantly made him the NFL story for the moment, especially as people all week here in Miami have been asking just about every expert who walks by where they think Brady will play next year.
Maybe this photo – which didn’t have a caption – doesn’t mean anything. Maybe Brady just thought it was a neat shot of him walking through some puddles and wanted to share it with the world.
Who knows?
But Brady had to know what that caption-less photo would would lead to. He had to know that fans would go crazy over it. Brady is always in control and knows exactly what’s going to happen next. He’s way too smart to just blindly post something like this… at the end of Super Bowl week.
Brady doesn’t need to be the story this week. Patrick Mahomes is more than ready and willing to become the future of the AFC. Then there’s Brady’s former backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, who is trying to step out of Brady’s shadow for good by winning a championship as a starter.
If this is what Brady’s path toward employment is going to be like moving forward in the offseason, then we should buckle up for more awkward and cryptic moments.
Because it’s clear that this whole process is very foreign for him.
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