DeflateGate Suspicions Could Impact Tom Brady's Entry Into Exclusive Country Club
BOSTON (CBS) -- How far is too far?
We're about to find out.
The iron fist of Roger Goodell has already cost Tom Brady a months-long headache, and the commissioner may end up costing Brady four games in the upcoming NFL season. Considering the soon-to-be 38-year-old Brady only has a few seasons left in his career, that's a hefty, hefty punishment.
But the decisions of Goodell clearly cause much more harm than most of us could have ever imagined, as we learned in The Boston Globe on Wednesday.
As it turns out, the negative attention thrown at Brady since January may end up costing the superstar and his supermodel wife their chance of being accepted into an exclusive Boston country club.
Oh, the humanity.
Will the light never shine on this dear martyr of society?
The Globe's Mark Shanahan explored the plight of New England's quarterback in his quest to gain access to The Country Club in Brookline. The article explains that it's nearly impossible for anyone to be admitted to the special club of the city's elite, and that Brady's status as a local sports hero and Gisele Bundchen's status as a world-famous supermodel with hundreds of millions of dollars won't help the couple sway the folks in charge of admissions.
So it's hard enough to get into this club, but the uphill climb grew even steeper for Brady, thanks to Goodell, Ted Wells and DeflateGate.
"What may work against the couple, members say, is the media frenzy following Brady in the aftermath of Deflategate," Shanahan wrote.
Everyone knows -- once you lose the members, you're as good as done.
"As part of the process," Shanahan continued, "applicants also have to schmooze with the dozen or so members of the admissions committee at a cocktail reception held at the club. Applicants' names are circulated among all the members, but the admissions committee finally decides."
The odds will be stacked against Tom as he attempts to schmooze, as the members of the admissions committee will only have in their minds the possibility that some footballs might have had slightly less air than normal in them for one half of a football game in which Brady and the Patriots won by 38 points. For any sane human, that's an enormous mental roadblock, one that figures to stonewall Brady's chances of admission.
(Quick side note: How is it that The Country Club has such a thorough vetting process for admitting members yet somehow allowed the Americans to wear these hideous shirts back in the '99 Ryder Cup?
That's inexcusable. OK, back to the story.)
Though I am not a member of the aristocracy (I'm more of a Dollar Menu kind of guy), I can't help but feel that the folks at The Country Club are making a huge mistake. However, not all members are blind to the benefits of having TB12 grace their little club.
"I think if Tom and Gisele were at the club playing volleyball," one member told the Globe, "a lot more people would be hanging around."
No kidding, guy. It'd be like Top Gun, but in real life. And better.
Shanahan noted in the article that Brady is an accomplished golfer, writing that "Brady regularly plays in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and in March he impressed Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA champ, while playing at Baker's Bay Golf & Ocean Club in the Bahamas."
That's great and all, but there was no mention of the fact that Tom Brady single-handedly taught Jordan Spieth what it takes to win in the most pressure-packed moments in sports.
Since that fateful mentoring session, Spieth has done nothing but bring home majors. Conservatively estimating, Brady is responsible for at least 50 percent of that success. Probably more, though.
(Some members might watch that video and not appreciate the slow play of Brady and Spieth. And they'd be right. Move it along, Tom. We don't have all day for you to hold meetings on the fairway.)
The article concludes with a quote from a lady who certainly speaks for the common man and woman among us.
"We like it that way. We don't want any thugs at the club," the old-timer told the Globe. "I would support them, yes. My husband isn't around to gawk at Gisele, but if Tom Brady wants to come home with me, he can do that anytime."
Hey. That's actually kind of weird. Maybe it's Tom who needs to do the rejection of this country club. He doesn't need rich grannies trying to wreck his home.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
