Tom Brady Week 14 Freak Out

Two things came to mind when I first saw the sideline argument between New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. One had to do with football, the other, the media.

Obviously Tom Brady the football player is almost beyond reproach. I don’t need to go over his resume’ and talk about how he is one of the best quarterbacks of his generation, but his squeaky clean image saved him from this becoming a media nightmare. Teflon Tom handled it well in the post game interviews, but I couldn’t help but think the media gave him – excuse the pun – a pass.

If a wide receiver pulls the same type of drama that Brady did, the media have been all over him. Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and Keyshawn Johnson are just a few of the guys who were destroyed by the media for causing problems that didn’t need to happen.

What was the difference?

Simple. It was the way Brady handled the media after the game – the way he always seems to handle the media. He kept this from becoming a distraction. Brady appears to have a good relationship with reporters, he is rarely going to get pushed to answer an uncomfortable question. More and more the media is looking to create a story instead of reporting it.

I am not defending DeSean Jackson’s uninspired play two weeks ago, but the reporters were doing everything they could to get him to say something he would regret. The same thing has happened to Moss, Owens and others. Reporters know if pushed, an athlete will react and create a story that would never have been there otherwise.

That is why seeing Brady’s lack of anger management was all the more shocking last week. He has an air about him that makes it appear that he can handle any situation. This time he did not. The way O’Brien handled the confrontation was the best thing that could have happened to the Patriots. With Brady being put on a pedestal by everyone – including me – holding him up as one of the standards when it comes to quarterback play, makes it is hard be critical of the guy.

In this case the Patriots QB clearly made a bad throw that kept a game they normally would have dominated, closer that preferred. I don’t know how the verbal throw down started, but the simple fact that O’Brien didn’t back down could go a long way toward helping every player on that team.

Obviously this is not the best team the Patriots have had in the last ten years, but that does not mean they can’t win the Super Bowl again. It might be a long shot with the defense as poor as it has been all season, but with the team knowing if Brady is not above being held accountable, neither will they. That is the kind of motivation that just might work to get this flawed but talented team on a role going into the playoffs – assuming Brady can control his temper.