In Week 6 of the 2022 NFL season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady made the reckless decision of comparing training for the NFL to military deployment.
During an episode of his SiriusXM podcast Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray, the football legend spoke with NBA superstar Kevin Durant. In the midst of this particular episode, the NFL player shared that starting a new football season is similar to military deployment.
“I almost look at a football season like you’re going away on deployment in the military, and it’s like, ‘Man, here I go again.’ There’s only one way to do it,” the quarterback stated. “The reality is you can really only be authentic to yourself, right?”
For the seven-time Super Bowl champion, playing football has undoubtedly come with challenges. Continuing his career in the NFL has drastically decreased the amount of time he spends with his kids and some even speculate his return to the field fueled the fire that was Brady’s divorce from supermodel Gisele Bündchen. According to the man himself, playing professional football comes with major personal life compromises.
Tom Brady admits that the start of the NFL season and military deployment are ‘two very different things’
However, following some reflection, the football star publicly apologized for his choice of words. “Earlier this week I made a statement about playing football and the military. It was a very poor choice of words,” Brady said during a press conference. “I just want to express that to any sentiments out there that people may have taken in a certain way, so I apologize.”
When asked by reporters if he wishes to expand on what he said during the podcast, he didn’t have much to say. “To be honest, I really don’t want to expand on it too much,” the 45-year-old athlete said.
However, as he continued, he did express the difference between military deployment and a starting NFL season. “I have a tremendous amount of gratitude for everyone who served and, in the end, we play a game and the military is defending our country is two very different things and I shouldn’t have made the comparison,” Brady explained.
“In the end, we play a game and the military is defending our country,” the football legend added. “It’s two very different things, and I shouldn’t have made the comparison.”
