New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has made it known that he has a tolerant and permissive view on the controversial topic of NFL players protesting during the national anthem.
When asked by reporter Jim Gray about his feelings on the demonstrations during a Q&A session at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday, Brady says the opinions of everyone are deserving of respect.
“You have to have respect for everyone's opinions. Sports for me has been the most unifying part of my life. Never forget that,” Brady said, according to Curtis. S. Chin.
Anthem protests have been a hot-button topic for the last couple of years around the league. After Colin Kaepernick kickstarted the movement back in 2016, several other players have followed his lead.
Brady himself has not kneeled during the anthem, although he did participate in leaguewide protests in Week 3 by linking arms with teammates after President Donald Trump criticized the NFL for those anthem protests.
Brady has a notable relationship with Trump, but apparently doesn’t share the president’s more adversarial stance toward those protests. Of course, it’s likely for the best that Brady doesn’t give a similarly aggressive take toward those protests so as not to sow possible tension in the Patriots locker room.
Only Brady knows whether he inwardly agrees or disagrees with what players protesting the anthem are standing up against or how they are showing it. But with his response of respect and understanding for everyone's opinions, at least he successfully skirted past a more incendiary take to avoid any potential unwanted controversy surrounding the anthem.
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