TIME blasts Tom Brady, Patriot Way for declining to take a stand on NFL scandals

AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt

In Tom Brady's appearance on WEEI yesterday, he was asked about the recent scandals involving Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson.

"I try to stay in my lane. All of those things, none of it’s really my business or my control,” he said. “I’ve just been focusing on the games and what I can do better. The things that are taking place on other teams or league-wide decisions, those are a different pay grade than me.

I certainly have a lot of personal feelings toward all those things, but it’s just, there’s nothing I can do. If I make a comment about it, there’s nothing I can do to make a difference,” he said. “The owners of the league, the commissioner of the league, the teams themselves, the players that are involved, they’re the ones that are speaking on it. It’s not really my responsibility to speak out about those things, because there are a lot of other people doing the talking.

TIME took this as a missed opportunity for Tom Brady to condemn the actions of a few NFL players.

No one familiar with Brady, the Patriots or the NFL would expect the 15-year veteran to immediately become a champion of social change on an array of issues, but you could hardly be forgiven for being disappointed Brady would not take a stand on an issue as clear-cut as domestic abuse

So perhaps that could be another explanation for why Brady had no interest in commenting on these recent incidents. Even if none of these men ever become a teammate of his, speaking out against them could close a lane that would maybe, just maybe, help the team win another Super Bowl. That’s simply not the Patriot Way

This seems to be a misguided attempt at bashing Brady and the Patriots.

If the author was really upset that Brady failed to take a vocal enough stance on the issues, then he should also be upset at Peyton Manning. Manning is a media darling compared to Brady, yet even he hasn't used turned on his charm and told the media how upset he is with NFL's handling of the recent scandals.

Does that mean that Brady and Manning condone the actions of Ray Rice or Adrian Peterson? No, the are probably just as disgusted by it as the rest of us. They do, however, realize that they have everything to lose and nothing to gain by speaking publicly about these matters. In today's society, social media can turn their words around and no matter their intention make them look bad.

Its football season now, and all Brady wants to talk about it football. So if you ask him a question that isn't about how his team is preparing for an upcoming game then there is a good chance you aren't going to get an answer.

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