Union Man Tom Brady
August 5th, 2021
“Get smarter, guys.”
Joe has said many times that 98.63 percent of Tom Brady’s public behavior is scripted.
Brady is brilliant when it comes to crafting and managing his image and messaging, and Joe suspects he’s a natural in that area when it comes to interacting with teammates and coaches (but far less scripted).
Even Brady’s timing to go on The Howard Stern Show last season was perfect as the pandemic had just begun and the world was going into complete chaos. Brady knew he could have waited, but he let himself open up like never before knowing that far bigger and more important news would swallow up his two-hour Stern chat if things went sideways.
(No, Joe doesn’t think Brady was scripted when he answered questions about Rob Gronkowski’s, um, naked member. But it made few headlines, so mission accomplished.)
Bucs players have said Brady doesn’t make speeches, but they also say the couple of times he did address the team were enormously transformative and powerful.
That brings Joe to today’s buzz, via ProFootballTalk.com, that Brady is wagging a finger at his NFL constituents via social media.
Open your eyes, Brady barked to players and the world.
Brady wrote in an Instagram story that Forbes estimated the average value of NFL franchises has risen by 14 percent in the last year, even in a year when revenues were down and the salary cap shrunk accordingly.
“The salary cap dropped by 20% and the new media deals were announced the day AFTER 2021 salary cap was set,” Brady wrote. “NFL players better wake up @nflpa. NFL players are IGNORANT.”
This is Brady taking a shot at the players’ union and firing off a populist comment that is sure to endear him to most NFL players. “Yeah, Tom. You tell’em. WTF? We’re getting screwed. F The Man. What about us?”
Does Joe believe NFL players are ignorant? Absolutely not. After all, they share a fixed percentage of league revenue. So eventually the same money will land in their pockets — and they’ve got genius billionaires working to make the NFL more lucrative every year.
But for some reason, Brady decided to vent about this on his powerful platform.
Joe’s not sure why, but Joe will assume that it’s good for Brady in some way, and that’s good for the Bucs.
August 5th, 2021 at 6:32 pm
Man, after owning several businesses, I know how hard it must have been (billionaires or not) for the empty stadiums to take a toll. IDK what Brady’s talking about. I just know that Hall of Fame game is tonight on Fox, and football is getting started! Give us a look at them ol’ Cowboys.. !
August 5th, 2021 at 6:36 pm
And further more, it just says the value of the teams went up (inflation) not their profits, which most certainly did not.
August 5th, 2021 at 6:45 pm
It’s probably the best method he has of making salary cap go up. And another year or two there’s no way the Buccaneers can hang on to all these players
August 5th, 2021 at 6:58 pm
Apparently Tom is the ignorant one. Why should players get more money if a franchise value goes up? Should they lose money if it happens to go down? If Tom put $50 million up to become a part owner, he certainly wouldn’t give a penny to any player if his value went up. Enough with the con Tom. You know you’re full of it. And you can take your overpriced TB12 crap and ….
August 5th, 2021 at 7:01 pm
Beeej is the winner now you thinking Like Brady!
August 5th, 2021 at 7:16 pm
Ty…ty…
August 5th, 2021 at 7:17 pm
Stick
Let us know when the value of a franchise goes down, in any meaningful way.
We all know fans in seats is the smallest of the Franchise revenue streams. I seriously doubt any
team lost money last year, as in went into the red.
Without players there are no teams.
August 5th, 2021 at 7:23 pm
With u Beej. Brady wants that cap up so the Bucs can keep some guys next year.
August 5th, 2021 at 7:34 pm
“Joe’s not sure why, but Joe will ASSUME that it’s good for Brady in some way, and that’s good for the Bucs.”
No idea why you’d assume that Joe. Brady’s contracts are set, and he’s already given the Bucs a ‘discount’ far as I’m concerned (more than likely, he could’ve made a LOT more elsewhere). He’s 44 years old & a mega-millionaire I’m sure.
Personally I think the one thing he has found since leaving the Patriots is a new Tom Brady who’s not concerned in the least with speaking his mind on controversial topics. I loved the ribbing that he gave to President Biden when the Bucs visited the White House (heck he didn’t even go to the White House when the Pats won). He seems to have become a lot more ‘public’ than he was with the Pats too.
The strange thing to me is that Tom Brady, when he was with the Patriots, always seemed ultra-conservative. And yet here he is taking a stand that essentially urges the union to fight for a bigger piece of the pie. Yes he chastised the union, but at the same time he’s kicking them in the butt to be more pro-active in dealing with the owners. Hmmm, strange transition from the Pats to the Bucs. Wonder if it’s BA’s influence?
August 5th, 2021 at 7:39 pm
@Stick
Then tell us why the value of NFL franchises increased. Was it something they invented, extraneous to the players? Could it be tied to rising real estate values, despite the fact that most franchises do not own stadiums? No, it’s the players. And the reason why the franchise values increase is because of their profitability. In other words, they’re making tons of money that is almost absolutely risk free. Hell, there’s less risk in investing in an NFL franchise than investing in treasury bonds. With a treasury bond, you have to worry about inflation; with an NFL franchise, you simply raise prices when inflation rises.
Green Bay reportedly lost some coin due to the pandemic, but that’s largely a paper loss, it wasn’t a cash flow loss. Even if you lack fans or local interest (hello LA Chargers) you make bank on television revenues as they’re split between all the teams. And that’s where most of the money comes from in professional sports. You can be a cheapskate (Donald Sterling) or a capricious fool (Georgia Frontiere) and still make tons of money. It’s due to public interest which generates eyeballs for advertisers. And all of that accrues from the players.
August 5th, 2021 at 8:52 pm
Yes the players were ignorant. They negotiated a 17th game and lowered the cap because the owners cried broke due to the pandemic. In reality their team value is up 14%. As brady said, they better wake up because they left money on the table. Money many will never recoup.
August 5th, 2021 at 9:22 pm
Wow… its about the cap👍🏻Idiots responding longer than article… it’s about crap💩
August 5th, 2021 at 9:56 pm
Brady is playing for below market value, so if it’s about maximizing paychecks, he should look to himself first and foremost.
But being a populist and singling out “the man” as the bad guy always plays well to the masses.
August 5th, 2021 at 10:24 pm
A couple of thoughts…
First I agree with Joe 100% that EVERYTHING Brady says is thought out and most times planned in advance for effect.
And that’s exactly how it should be. Brady has covered every detail when it comes to winning. PR and team morale are essential ingredients in the mix and TB12 has attention to detail.
As for how this might help Brady of course it’s not about the money since he clearly hasn’t even maximized his own salary. I think Joe nailed it with…
“This is Brady taking a shot at the players’ union and firing off a populist comment that is sure to endear him to most NFL players. “Yeah, Tom. You tell’em. WTF? We’re getting screwed. F The Man. What about us?”
This will play well in the locker room and while our oligarch loving…give them our tax dollars for their facilities lovers here look at it as a jab at the inferior share given the players…it’s also a jab at LABOR…in fact that is who Brady specifically singled out…the Union not the owners.
However I also like what D.R. posted and have also noticed a change in Brady since he came to the Bucs. Hard to know how much of a change or the motivation but one thing to remember about Brady…it isn’t difficult for him to be a man of “the people” a guy who gets the everyday player busting his hump just to make it. 6th round draft pick…198 players ahead of him…he has NEVER forgotten and he can still relate to the “little” guys.
August 6th, 2021 at 1:50 am
I am sure Brady wouldn’t shrug away a few extra dollars, but I don’t see that as his main motivation at this time and place, his future is more than secure. Brady knows he’s made his mark, and is possibly trying to use his platform to help secure the future for NFL players.
August 6th, 2021 at 3:12 am
TB12 is correct. They are ignorant. They are the only sports league where a contract isn’t guaranteed. And look at these NBA players that are average making more than the best NFL players. Now the NFL owners lower the salary cap. They make so much money from TV that they don’t need fans at the games. I like this new version of Tom Brady.