Tom Brady compared the grind of an NFL season to military deployment, sparking unfriendly fire from critics, vets and their families. (See the tweets below.)
In his “Let’s Go” podcast with Jim Gray posted Monday, the star Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback was elaborating on a comment that guest basketball star Kevin Durant made about the singlemindedness required to thrive in pro sports.
“I almost look at football season like I’m going away on deployment for the military,” Brady said. “And it’s like: ‘Man, here I go again.’”
“And, there’s only one way to do it, and I think Jim ― we’ve talked from time to time just about ― how do you enjoy certain moments of it?”
Perhaps Brady could be forgiven for his failure to read the room. He’s under the stress of a 3-3 season for his Bucs, prompting him to cuss out teammates and smash computer tablets in frustration. The seven-time Super Bowl winner may also be heading for the Super Bowl of divorce from wife Gisele Bundchen.
But the internet was not in a forgiving mood.
“Tampa...a long long way from Afghanistan,” MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle wrote in one of the pithier tweets.
Check out other responses below from Twitter users, including those who say they’re vets or have family in the military. Brady might want to take cover.