Give Brady a Break

          I was fortunate enough to attend the Patriots-Vikings game this past Sunday. There were three major themes I took to heart after the contest was over.

1. Randy Moss was very eager to run over and say hi to Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
2. After the game, I wondered what Brett Favre ever did to irritate Patriots fans. The crowd at Gillette Stadium did their best impersonation of Philadelphia fans as Favre was getting carted off the field. My dad did mention that he beat the Patriots while on the Jets, and then I remembered that he beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. Throw in allegations of sexual harassment (which guarantees that every woman in the place hated him like poison), and I suppose there were enough grounds to boo him with gusto as he was getting carried off.
3. Patriots’ fans were very uncomfortable when Tom Brady was on the jumbotron while standing on the sideline with his helmet off. Whenever he was shown, the decibel level dropped by 50%.

          The last point is what I’ll be discussing in this post. I find the general public's fascination with Brady’s hair to be very interesting. No one should really give a damn about his hair. As long as he’s chucking touchdowns and winning football games, everyone should be good right? If I were a Patriots fan, I wouldn’t care if Brady had a purple Mohawk.

    Keep in mind some of the people Boston area sports fans have embraced over the years. Larry Bird looked homeless for the majority of the 1980s. Johnny Damon made a bold attempt to look like Jesus for his last few years on the Red Sox. Manny Ramirez was well…Manny Ramirez. Why were none of these athletes ever ostracized for their appearance? There’s a very easy answer…

    There was never the insinuation that Bird, Damon, or Manny’s look was dictated by their significant other.

    Let’s be honest. If Brady was a single guy, and for some reason he started growing Bieber-like hair, we wouldn’t question it. We might think it was a little strange, but if the greatest quarterback of the 00’s wants to grow his hair out, then we’re cool with it. Tom ruined it when he said this wife liked his hair, and it’s not going anywhere. Now he’s created the perception that just like 85% of the male population that is in a relationship, decisions they make are influenced by whether or not it will make their partner happy (for clarity’s sake, the other 15% actively hate their partner, therefore their partner’s opinions have no weight on their decisions. That 15% is a rough estimate. Just incase my significant other reads this, I’m happily in the 85% group. Let’s just move on).

    Why is this a problem? Simple. Tom Brady is a super hero. The Golden Boy. The guy who upgrades from a B-Level actress to an A-level supermodel. The fact that Tom Brady shows he’s a normal dude by growing his hair to appease his wife is a chink in the armor. The only hero who has ever been allowed to compromise himself for a woman without public scrutiny was Superman. John Lennon couldn’t do it (although one wonders if Lennon had picked a woman who looked more like Gisele as opposed to Yoko Ono, perhaps there wouldn’t of been so much blame placed on the relationship for breaking up the Beatles). I’m struggling for a real life example of someone who did pull it off.

    Just think of how male groups operate. Everyone has had a friend that was hard to get to come out to a party, or hard to get to a poker game, because of a girl. Every guy has also been that friend who’s had a hard time getting to hang out with his bros because of his lady. Inevitably, the other males that are in the group speak poorly about the character of the “whipped” male (notice how I tactfully used the word “male” as if I was describing a wild animal. Female readers of this might say that I was describing the behavior of a wild animal, but I digress). I think it’s quite obvious that Tom Brady has turned into “that guy” to the big group of friends that is New England Patriots fans.

    I personally want to come out and defend Tom Brady (not that he needs defending, or would want someone with no credentials defending him, but for the sake of me needing to end this post, let me use a defense of Brady as a vehicle to drive us home to the end of this column. Thank you). For starters, have you seen his wife? If she asked Brady to stop playing football and become a professional cricket player, I would understand. Secondly, he’s Tom Brady. You win 3 Super Bowls, you’ve earned the right to do whatever you want (short of murder of course, or other serious felonies).

          Keep these thoughts in mind the next time you see Brady without a helmet on. Just don’t tell your buddies. They might think you’re going soft.