Tom Brady on Monday avoided directly answering when asked if he thought he had avoided harm to his career for supporting former President Trump because he is a white athlete.
Former NFL star and sports commentator Shannon Sharpe lobbed criticism at Brady last week for his apparent support of Trump, reports USA Today. Brady had voiced some support for Trump when he first campaigned in 2016, and was once seen with a MAGA hat in his locker.
Although he has since avoided politically oriented questions, Sharpe opined that Brady had avoided damage to his career because he is white.
“Let’s just say for sake of argument, LeBron James says, ‘My friend is Minister [Louis] Farrakhan,’ ” Sharpe said on Fox Sports, referencing the Nation of Islam leader who has been accused of spreading anti-Semitic rhetoric. “How would America react? Blacks have always had to be very, very quiet about who our friends are … a prominent Black athlete can never say, ‘Minister Farrakhan is just my friend.’ They’d try to cancel anybody with the just mere mention of Mister Farrakhan’s name.”
“I’m not sure how to respond to [a] hypothetical like that,” Brady said when asked about the criticism during a Super Bowl media availability on Monday. “I hope everyone can — we’re in this position like I am to, again, try to be the best I can be every day as an athlete, as a player, as a person in my community, for my team and so forth, so yeah, I’m not sure what else.”
Brady is set to return to the Super Bowl this year as the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.