Tom Brady Takes Minor Dig At NFL For Rule On Helmets
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Unlike last year, Tom Brady had not said much about his new helmet during the offseason and summer, as he adapted to change in year 20 of the NFL. That changed on Monday morning, when he was asked in his weekly radio interview about the change forced upon him -- all in the name of safety -- by the NFL and the NFLPA.
"I don't really love the one that I'm in, but I don't really have much of a choice. So I'm just trying to do the best that I can to work with it," Brady said on the Greg Hill Show on WEEI. "And I hated to put [my old helmet]on the shelf, but that was what they kind of said to do, so that's kind of what I'm dealing with."
That question must have gotten some gears turning in Brady's head, because a day later, the quarterback posted the following to his Facebook and Instagram pages: "I think they just didn't like the way the old helmet was working up in New England."
Presumably, the "they" in this message in the NFL, and the "didn't like" has to do with the fact that Brady has simply done too much winning over his two decades under center for the Patriots. As Brady said on Monday, he had worn his previous helmet for the past four Super Bowls, which for most players would represent a whole lot of Super Bowls. (For Brady, it represents almost half of his Super Bowls. The man plays in a lot of Super Bowls.)
Such a comment would obviously have been made in jest. Certainly, the rule change applied to all players, including Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and (of course) Antonio Brown.
Still, as is the case with just about everything Brady says publicly, there's always at least a little bit of truth behind every joke. That doesn't mean we can expect any holdouts or retirement threats like the Raiders got to experience with Brown, and this doesn't quite rise to the five-alarm level that the silent protest back in 2016 caused. But, given Brady's personal history of -- shall we say -- conflict with the NFL? Add this minor dig to the log.
