Alan Greenwood

You know what a mighty fall Tom Brady has taken in the hearts of New Englanders – well, at least some New Englanders – when wisecracks are lobbed in the direction of Tompa Bay from the pulpit.

Thomas Tobin, a bishop in the diocese of Providence, R.I., got a sly dig in at TB12 via Twitter.

“Bob Kraft is auctioning a Super Bowl ring for charity,” Tobin tweeted. “Very admirable indeed. But is it true that Tom Brady bid on it because he knows it’s the only way he’ll get another ring?”

Ouch. While the bishop might be off a bit in his assessment of the Patriots vis a vis the Buccaneers, he surely represents a fairly vocal contingent of Pats fans.

As Brady’s slip out the backdoor grows smaller in the rear-view mirror, he has made it more difficult for his apologists to build a case for his career-long reputation as a humble, selfless soul who cares only about winning football games.

His gathering of TB teammates in a de facto training session represents an increase of 100 percent of the optional time he gave to the Patriots’ young receiving corps last season. That has been sufficiently hashed out and needs no further comment.

If that wasn’t sufficiently annoying, Brady took some time from his football pursuits to step up his second job as a huckster for all things relating to his TB12 brand. Via Twitter:

“Excited to announce the latest from @TB12sports. PROTECT is our new immunity blend supplement created to support a healthy immune system to help you stay strong.”

Stay healthy and make Brady more wealthy! It’s a mere $45 for one jar of Protect!

There is no word on whether Brady might offer his old pal, Donald J. Trump, a lifetime supply to replace those White House Lysol injections.

Then came word that Brady and ESPN will offer a nine-part series next year: “The Man in the Arena.” It isn’t tough to imagine Brady hearing all about Michael Jordan’s recent ESPN series, “The Last Dance,” and convincing himself that he could use some of that love – and profit.

We can’t be sure of what we will learn about the GOAT that we haven’t seen, read or heard over the last 20 years. His personal production company will be part of the group bringing the project into being, which certainly means Brady will pick up a fair chunk of change for it.

And that is perfectly fine. It may not be particularly compelling for viewers, but that’s why they invented remote controls and a million TV channels.

It seems as if Brady grew weary of the good-guy image he held in these parts for so long. He has escaped New England and will proceed to do whatever he damned well pleases. And that is OK, too.

But he certainly is making it easier to back up the thought that he and the Pats parted ways at the right time.

—

Contact Alan Greenwood at 594-1248 or agreenwood@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter