Do you hate Tom Brady?

[Dukerati]

As a passionate sports fan, hate is pretty much a way of life. I hate Carolina, I hate Dallas, I hate the Phillies--- quite easily if I may say so:) In addition to general concepts such as "teams", I am equally capable of intensely disliking individual players (Ivory Latta and Troy Aikman come to mind).

With this illustrious background of hating, I just assumed I would hate Tom Brady. He has pretty much all the prerequisites. Smug confidence, good looks, dates supermodels, passes touchdowns in the fourth quarter out of the shotgun up by five touchdowns, screams at his team for false-starting when up by forty points, impregnates hot girls, makes up perceived slights to self-motivate, and most importantly, always wins. So what's wrong with me? Someone help me hate!

[bluebear]

As a passionate sports fan, hate is pretty much a way of life. I hate Carolina, I hate Dallas, I hate the Phillies--- quite easily if I may say so:) In addition to general concepts such as "teams", I am equally capable of intensely disliking individual players (Ivory Latta and Troy Aikman come to mind).

With this illustrious background of hating, I just assumed I would hate Tom Brady. He has pretty much all the prerequisites. Smug confidence, good looks, dates supermodels, passes touchdowns in the fourth quarter out of the shotgun up by five touchdowns, screams at his team for false-starting when up by forty points, impregnates hot girls, makes up perceived slights to self-motivate, and most importantly, always wins. So what's wrong with me? Someone help me hate!

I know the post is tongue in cheek but no need to hate...I'm an admittedly biased fan, but Brady is not arrogant..never talks about himself..has HISTORICALLY never put up the big numbers of his peers. The fourth quarter TDs and yelling at his lineman is based on 1 or 2 games...seems to me the antithesis of a hated athlete...

[billybreen]

The poster or the player? ;)

I'm not a huge Patriots fan. Actually, I carefully cultivate my ambivalence so I can watch the sport and enjoy it, not watch and suffer as I do with college basketball.

With that said, I can't think of any reason to hate Brady aside from pure cheesy envy: he's pretty, he's absurdly competitive, and he wins a lot. More power to him.

[colchar]

The poster or the player? ;)



You beat me to it.

[EarlJam]

The poster or the player? ;)

I'm not a huge Patriots fan. Actually, I carefully cultivate my ambivalence so I can watch the sport and enjoy it, not watch and suffer as I do with college basketball.

With that said, I can't think of any reason to hate Brady aside from pure cheesy envy: he's pretty, he's absurdly competitive, and he wins a lot. More power to him.

Ditto on every word of this post. He's to the NFL what Christian was to college hoops in the early 90s.

-EarlJam

[mr. synellinden]

The poster or the player? ;)
.

This is somewhat lengthy, but I posted this on a blog a couple of days ago about Brady.


Can we put aside for the moment the fact that he is in the midst of an unprecedented season statistically (to me, what Brady has done so far is the equivalent of a hitter batting .500 at the All-Star break) and he is leading a 7-0 team that looks unbeatable? And can we put aside the fact he is already one of the all-time great QBs and is headed to Canton someday?

Okay. Putting that aside, Tom Brady must be stopped. Or at least sat down and given a stern lecture about how stupid he looks. Enough with the GQ suits and ties (and how could I forget the perfect white pocket squares) at press conferences. Enough with the perfectly combed hair. Enough with the smug attitude and the smirks that say, "Yeah, I know millions of people are watching me right now. Take a good look at how pretty I am." I don't care that he is a quarterback - nobody in football should want to be seen as pretty. In fact, it should be written into the NFL labor agreement that players are not allowed to appear on the cover of GQ. I mean, did you ever think an NFL star would pose for or give his okay to publish a picture like this like this? Or this? I don't recall seeing any pictures of Joe Montana or Brett Favre or Peyton Manning like this. Does he want to be a model or a football player?

If you watched him at the post-game press conference after the Patriots' shellacking of the Dolphins this past Sunday, you saw everything that I am talking about - the perfect suit/shirt/tie combination, the stylish wet hair, and that darn white pocket square. Those pocket squares don't end up in your suit jacket pocket by accident. A lot of thought goes into the decision to buy one, fold one and place it perfectly in the pocket. You have to be really concerned about looking stylish to wear one of those, especially at a post-game press conference. 27 touchdowns and 2 interceptions or not, if I were a Patriots fan I'd be a little worried about how much Brady cares about his stylish appearance. Three Super Bowl rings and a spot locked up in Canton already or not, if I were Brady, I'd be a little concerned about appearing to care too much about appearing too perfect - that's called vanity. When it comes to Q ratings, there is a fine line between stylish and dandyish. There is a fine line between heartthrob and obnoxious playboy. There is a fine line between class and egotism. Tom Brady is balancing on the edge of those lines.

http://dregblog.blogspot.com/ - if you want to see it with links - and trust me the links are worthwhile.

[billybreen]

Can we put aside for the moment the fact that he is in the midst of an unprecedented season statistically (to me, what Brady has done so far is the equivalent of a hitter batting .500 at the All-Star break) and he is leading a 7-0 team that looks unbeatable? And can we put aside the fact he is already one of the all-time great QBs and is headed to Canton someday?

This is the same whineage as with Beckham 5 years ago. I don't get it. It's a post-Queer Eye world, my friend. Embrace it.

[mr. synellinden]

This is the same whineage as with Beckham 5 years ago. I don't get it. It's a post-Queer Eye world, my friend. Embrace it.

I think in this country there is a clear difference in perception when it comes to a European soccer star and a sport that very few people care about and an American football star playing the most popular sport in the country.

And more to the point, I think Beckham has become a caricature of himself for the same reason. His popularity is greater in the pop culture/paparazzi world than in the sports world. In fact, I think soccer fans resent that.

Do you really think NFL fans will embrace that side of Brady if it becomes too prominent?

[billybreen]

I think in this country there is a clear difference in perception when it comes to a European soccer star and a sport that very few people care about and an American football star playing the most popular sport in the country.

And more to the point, I think Beckham has become a caricature of himself for the same reason. His popularity is greater in the pop culture/paparazzi world than in the sports world. In fact, I think soccer fans resent that.

Do you really think NFL fans will embrace that side of Brady if it becomes too prominent?

Yes, yes I do. As long as he's playing at a high level and not tanking due to his sideline distractions, the traditional football audience will enjoy watching him play. And a non traditional audience (mostly women, probably) will at least be curious to see how Giselle's boyfriend played on Sunday.

I think the American public is mature enough to handle an athlete who strays from traditional meathead stereotypes.

[mr. synellinden]

Yes, yes I do. As long as he's playing at a high level and not tanking due to his sideline distractions, the traditional football audience will enjoy watching him play. And a non traditional audience (mostly women, probably) will at least be curious to see how Giselle's boyfriend played on Sunday.

I think the American public is mature enough to handle an athlete who strays from traditional meathead stereotypes.

I agree to a certain degree but it's a bit more subtle than that for me. I have always been a big Brady fan for the same reason that I love Derek Jeter - both guys play hard, seem to respect the game, are winners, etc. And Jeter definitely has his pop culture moments (Mariah Carey) and endorsements. But the difference with Brady is that he seems to be more smug and preening lately, and that is what is rubbing me the wrong way - again, it's the smirk that he has - as if he likes the fact the he knows that people think he's pretty. People in this country are smart enough to pick up on that and things can turn fairly quickly. Remember, Duke was once a lovable underdog and then they were (much like Brady) popular like The Beatles in 1992 - and then sometime around 2001 - 2002 (due in large part to the media), they became villains. Too much media exposure where you are portraying smugness can turn the public against you.

[EarlJam]

Yes, yes I do. As long as he's playing at a high level and not tanking due to his sideline distractions, the traditional football audience will enjoy watching him play. And a non traditional audience (mostly women, probably) will at least be curious to see how Giselle's boyfriend played on Sunday.

I think the American public is mature enough to handle an athlete who strays from traditional meathead stereotypes.

Wasn't Laettner pretty much the same way? On countless magazine covers, including GQ, during his college days?

These were the "pre-Queer Eye" days, and he caught a lot of flack because of it. Through it all, however, he WON.

-EarlJam

[DevilAlumna]

I think the American public is mature enough to handle an athlete who strays from traditional meathead stereotypes.

Exhibit A: Tiger Woods
B: Lance Armstrong
C: Tim Duncan

The fact that Brady's a football player hurts his ability to shed the "meathead" image, but otherwise he's doing a pretty good job of setting himself up for some role in the public eye (actor? hopefully with a better record than Brian Bosworth; TV analyst? Politician??), post-NFL.

And no, I can't hate a guy who's just so-darned good in his chosen profession; I am compelled to admire that. (Though I still like Peyton more!)

[billybreen]

I agree to a certain degree but it's a bit more subtle than that for me. I have always been a big Brady fan for the same reason that I love Derek Jeter - both guys play hard, seem to respect the game, are winners, etc. And Jeter definitely has his pop culture moments (Mariah Carey) and endorsements. But the difference with Brady is that he seems to be more smug and preening lately, and that is what is rubbing me the wrong way - again, it's the smirk that he has - as if he likes the fact the he knows that people think he's pretty. People in this country are smart enough to pick up on that and things can turn fairly quickly. Remember, Duke was once a lovable underdog and then they were (much like Brady) popular like The Beatles in 1992 - and then sometime around 2001 - 2002 (due in large part to the media), they became villains. Too much media exposure where you are portraying smugness can turn the public against you.

Ok, cool. This is a bit different from the argument I thought you were making. But while I understand the fear of an anti-Brady (and, really, anti-Pats) backlash, no amount of personality alteration will prevent this. Any time a team has this type of success, it will lose the underdog appeal and become hated. Take the Red Sox, please. No, seriously, take the Red Sox. Also, much of the basketball watching public found a way to hate Shane. Shane! He was too clean, too perfect.

Whatever personality Brady chooses, haters will find a way to hate it. The Pats are becoming the Evil Empire of the NFL, and Brady is Belichick's cleft-chinned executioner. So yeah, this is a lost cause. Brady and the Pats will be hated regardless of what they do from here on out.

[Indoor66]

As a passionate sports fan, hate is pretty much a way of life. I hate Carolina, I hate Dallas, I hate the Phillies--- quite easily if I may say so:) In addition to general concepts such as "teams", I am equally capable of intensely disliking individual players (Ivory Latta and Troy Aikman come to mind).

With this illustrious background of hating, I just assumed I would hate Tom Brady. He has pretty much all the prerequisites. Smug confidence, good looks, dates supermodels, passes touchdowns in the fourth quarter out of the shotgun up by five touchdowns, screams at his team for false-starting when up by forty points, impregnates hot girls, makes up perceived slights to self-motivate, and most importantly, always wins. So what's wrong with me? Someone help me hate!

Why eo we have to hate? Can't we dislike. Hate is such a strong word for the passions of sports fans. In Wiki words: "Often the verb "to hate" is used casually as an exaggeration to describe things one merely dislikes, such as a particular style of architecture, a certain climate or some particular kind of food."

[billybreen]

Why eo we have to hate? Can't we dislike. Hate is such a strong word for the passions of sports fans. In Wiki words: "Often the verb "to hate" is used casually as an exaggeration to describe things one merely dislikes, such as a particular style of architecture, a certain climate or some particular kind of food."

I don't understand. Isn't it clear that we are using hate casually as an exaggeration? It's often used that way.

[Indoor66]

I don't understand. Isn't it clear that we are using hate casually as an exaggeration? It's often used that way.

That is my point. Words have meaning and meanings take you places. The ratcheting up of rhetoric has, IMUO, been a huge factor in the additional violence in our society. If you feel hate when describing feelings abut another sporting team or a sports player, what do you feel or use to describe feelings about real insults or being cut off in traffic or if someone injures you? After hate what is left to feel or do? Violence?

[hurleyfor3]

Expanding this to the Pats as a team, I found the 2001-06 Pats to have been the most boring good professional sports team in my lifetime. They had no obvious weakness, but neither were they among the best in history at anything -- their offense wasn't the '89 49ers or the '99 Rams, nor was their defense the '76 Steelers. No player particularly stood out, not compared to other good teams over history at least. No flamboyant personalities, no music videos, no guarantees of winning the Super Bowl, no blowhard in the front office popping a rivet when the team goes on a losing streak, nothing like that.

That's all changed. They signed Randy Moss, they got caught cheating, they started running up the score. Like 'em or hate 'em, they're a lot more interesting now.

And you know what? I'm more interested too.

[billybreen]

That is my point. Words have meaning and meanings take you places. The ratcheting up of rhetoric has, IMUO, been a huge factor in the additional violence in our society. If you feel hate when describing feelings abut another sporting team or a sports player, what do you feel or use to describe feelings about real insults or being cut off in traffic or if someone injures you? After hate what is left to feel or do? Violence?

I don't buy that conclusion, nor do I know what you mean by additional violence in our society.

In fact, I think hyperbole nicely dilutes real emotion. That's the whole point of it being an overstatement. No one feels hate towards a sports team, so if we consider the mild annoyance we feel towards Tom Brady 'hate,' that's just a sign that we don't know what real hate is. Good for us. I take a perverse comfort in that.

[tombrady]

He has pretty much all the prerequisites. Smug confidence, good looks, dates supermodels, passes touchdowns in the fourth quarter out of the shotgun up by five touchdowns, screams at his team for false-starting when up by forty points, impregnates hot girls, makes up perceived slights to self-motivate, and most importantly, always wins.

thank you Mo Lewis.

[juise]

I don't hate Tom Brady because he is single-handedly carrying my fantasy 7-1 team (thanks to Steven Jackson, Marvin Harrison and Drew Brees for leading my other team to a 2-6 record).

[YmoBeThere]

Giselle's boyfriend

Having spent much time down in Brazil, while Gisele is very attractive, there are better down there, at least to my tastes.

[Dukerati]

Billy hit my intention of "hate" right on the button. I obviously do not hate Ivory Latta, but would I hold open the door if she was right behind me? 100 out of 100 times, no:)

The problem that I am having is that I don't even mildly dislike Tom Brady! He killed my beloved Redskins last week and I can't ounce up a smidge of dislike for the man. I am deeply troubled by this and sought to derive external support in an effort to start disliking him. Mr.S started the hate-train pretty well but the rest of the board has pretty much diffused it.