America Takes Issue With Tom Brady Screaming at His Teammates Two Days After Going to Mr. Kraft's Wedding

Mr. Kraft's lovely and elegant surprise wedding meant different things to different people. Of course, it's a celebration of romantic love between two highly accomplished people. To the people who were there, it was an unforgettable evening, I am sure. To me personally, my disappointment at not being invited is outweighed by how happy I am for the bride and groom. And to the rest of the public, the focus for the last 24 hours has been on the presence there of one Thomas Edward Patrick Brady. 

To the gossip rags, it was all about the fact that Brady was there without a Plus One:

To sports fans and gamblers, it's been about the fact that he was there at all. 

According to some published reports, 93% of the moneyline wagers were on Tampa Bay at -10.5.  But even if your interest was limited to just Fantasy points or just an emotional attachment to Brady and the Bucs, this was a terrible look for him:

Jesus wept, is that bad optics for a guy who flew to Pittsburgh on his own. From the completely opposite compass heading of the men he's berating. I mean, even allowing for everything he's done for this franchise over the past two and a half seasons, you lose some of that moral authority when the guys you're screaming at can still smell the bacon-wrapped scallops on your breath. Not 36 hours before kickoff, his offensive linemen were obeying curfew while he was in Manhattan sipping champagne and singing along to "Tiny Dancer" with Drew Bledsoe. So don't be surprised if people look at the events of the last three days and question his level of commitment.

I've been as shameless a Tom Brady fanboy as anyone ever has. Longer than anyone else has. I defended him as he began skipping OTAs and spent the better part of his last season in Foxboro carrying himself with all the enthusiasm of John Bender serving Saturday detention. But he's making it harder by the day to assume he's all in on football since his unretirement. More and more often, I find myself saying some variation of "The GOAT I came to know and love never would've done [fill in the blank]." The guy who won the coveted parking spot awarded to who does the most in the offseason program as a rookie and who could simply not be beaten to the team gym in the morning 15 years later would've sent a polite RSVP declining an invitation on a Friday in the middle of the season. Not matter what the event was or who the invite came from. It would've been unthinkable for him. 

And to all the people who think I'm nuts because my loyalty remains with Bill Belichick over Brady, his approach to such things hasn't changed:

Naturally, Todd Bowles shot down a suggestion that there was a connection between his quarterback's busy social calendar and his stat line of 25-for-40, 62.5%, 243 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 87.8 passer rating, which represents his second lowest completion and third lowest yardage and passer ratings on the season. 

But not many people are buying that:

Again, MY Tom Brady wouldn't have taken a flight separated from his teammates or gone off at them like this because he's struggling. He simply would not have. 

And while it pains me to admit it any time I predict something with almost clairvoyant accuracy, I said this would happen. That you can't make one set of rules that apply to one player and not everyone else. Not in this sport, anyway. Once Tampa agreed to cede to Brady the authority to make roster moves, fire Bruce Arians, take 11 days off in the middle of training camp and give him Wednesdays off, it would cost them. You can't have cohesion in the ranks when say, Tristan Wirfs and Shaq Mason are completely dedicated to the cause but the guy they're blocking for comes and goes as he pleases. No matter how much respect and gratitude they have toward the guy, that will breed resentment sooner or later. And that will affect a team's performance. You can't fight human nature. 

I wish he'd stayed retired. And if he decides to just reretire right now, let's all agree that we'll forget these last couple of months ever happened, before he does any more damage to his legacy. Sad.