Tom Brady's interview with GQ

Thanks guys--20 minutes of my life back!

What an annoying article.. if someone says no, why badger??

NYPatsFan said:

Who did that interview? Chuck Klosterman or Gary Tanguay?

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Tanguay coached him.

Mack Herron said:

Thanks guys--20 minutes of my life back!

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Based on the posts i'm not even going to read it.

PatsFanSince74 said:

To me, the most important words spoken by Brady were words we should all take to heart: "I don’t really care how the Patriots are perceived, truthfully. I really don’t. I really don’t. Look, if you’re a fan of our team, you root for us, you believe in our team, and you believe in what we’re trying to accomplish. If you’re not a fan of us, you have a different opinion."

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Don't tell Ken, but Brady seems unlikely to ever file a defamation case.

of course its now going to be spun like this
Tom Brady had a lot to hide in bizarre 'GQ' interview: This is one of the more bizarre turns of… http://dlvr.it/CmxZ7N #ForTheWin

more media coverage. Why did he do this interview to this idiot?

SVN said:

of course its now going to be spun like this
Tom Brady had a lot to hide in bizarre 'GQ' interview: This is one of the more bizarre turns of… http://dlvr.it/CmxZ7N #ForTheWin

more media coverage. Why did he do this interview to this idiot?

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That clown's twitter account has been suspended...why?...credibility < zero

I'm likely going to deal with a thunderous avalanche of passive aggressive dislikes for this but I think we need to establish some context to this article/interview instead of getting all butt-hurt.

Let's be clear that the average GQ reader likely doesn't post on NFL fan forums. In fact the average person for both are likely polar opposites. Any vegan lumberjacks currently wearing skinny jeans reading this? Good. I strongly doubt a bicycle riding ironically moustached 120 pound (including the cable knit sweater) slacktivist from Brooklyn cares about the intricacies of the two tight end offense. Their average reader cares no more about the challenges presented by The Seahawks defense than we do farm to table accountability and Instagram filters. Speaking generally, of course. Their average reader has never even looked at a barbell, never mind done deadlifts until their shins bleed while listening to Lamb of God and screaming like a demonic crimson faced howler monkey. Completely different audiences.

Accordingly, the author had to find a general interest angle to pursue that parallels the generally accepted narrative. The background, the triumph, and the squeaky-clean image of Brady contrasted with a potential cheating scandal is incredibly compelling to a non-endemic audience. While I disagree with some of his tactics, he didn't have many alternatives available to him in constructing a compelling narrative and profile.

It looks like I avoided a real Klosterfvck by not reading the article.

jays52 said:

I'm likely going to deal with a thunderous avalanche of passive aggressive dislikes for this but I think we need to establish some context to this article/interview instead of getting all butt-hurt.

Let's be clear that the average GQ reader likely doesn't post on NFL fan forums. In fact the average person for both are likely polar opposites. Any vegan lumberjacks currently wearing skinny jeans reading this? Good. I strongly doubt a bicycle riding ironically moustached 120 pound (including the cable knit sweater) slacktivist from Brooklyn cares about the intricacies of the two tight end offense. Their average reader cares no more about the challenges presented by The Seahawks defense than we do farm to table accountability and Instagram filters. Speaking generally, of course. Their average reader has never even looked at a barbell, never mind done deadlifts until their shins bleed while listening to Lamb of God and screaming like a demonic crimson faced howler monkey. Completely different audiences.

Accordingly, the author had to find a general interest angle to pursue that parallels the generally accepted narrative. The background, the triumph, and the squeaky-clean image of Brady contrasted with a potential cheating scandal is incredibly compelling to a non-endemic audience. While I disagree with some of his tactics, he didn't have many alternatives available to him in constructing a compelling narrative and profile.

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nah, Jay...no dislikes from me...I really don't give a shyt about this crap...I'm just a fan of "choke me in the shallow water...before I get too deep"...therefore I minimize and marginalize anything produced by a "cult" writer with less than 1% interest in the NFL.

So I’m curious—would you say that categorization is accurate? I guess it depends on how you define the word generally.

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Why does Brady have to explain what "generally aware" means? Those are league's words and their interpretation. Why not ask them? He's said they only thing he cares about is how the balls are prepared, what they feel like.

And what difference does it make? Brady is having an MVP calibre season and the team is 9-0. Doesn't that show you that it doesn't matter what the psi of the balls is?

memento said:

Not worth the read in my opinion. The guy isn't trying to tar Brady and he's not trying to vindicate him either. It's GQ. They do clothes and you can tell by all the pretty boy pictures of Brady. Here's the relevant portion

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Pretty amazing display of patience and grace by America's number one sports villain.

Thanks for saving me the click.

sieglo said:

Somehow I don't think GQ ever named Hitler Man of the Year.

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Did you see the cut of his suits?

.

I read the article earlier today before I had a chance to come here and see what a smear job it is.

I hope Brady just says "**** it" to any non-Pats oriented or non-required media. Can't win with the low information crowd...

This was an article intended to not take sides in the Deflategate saga, while also trying to avoid the criticism of being a puff piece. In other words seemingly hard hitting and objective. However it failed in both categories. In the end it only served pablum to accompany the fashion shots.

My only beef is the author's summation

"He doesn’t want to keep saying something that isn’t true, nor does he want to directly contradict what he said in the past. I realize that seems like a negative thing to conclude about someone I don’t know. It seems like I’m suggesting that he both cheated and lied, and technically I am".

There are several other reasons for Brady's responses he got from his trap question (see Fencer's post #6), not least the one that any other response would open the door for further questions. Just like a door-to-door salesman it is best to slam the door shut before his foot intervenes.

The equivocation in that final sentence is the evidence of the article/author not taking sides; misguided at best and craven at worst. Technically he gets to cover both camps with the ambiguity, yet leaves the impression of guilt. Then finally to appease the #freebrady crowd he postulates that history will forget.

Ultimately GQ wins because they managed to get clicks from an aging chestnut of controversy. The author may long regret the missed opportunity to use his 45 minutes with the GOAT, somehow I don't think he will get another.

Liberal arts "trained journalist" who could not do enough Algebra One for middle school science. Pass.

Fencer said:

Don't tell Ken, but Brady seems unlikely to ever file a defamation case.

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It will be our secret. Scout's honor!

TB_Helmet said:

That's an unfortunate interview. I've heard Klosterman on Simmons podcasts and he usually comes off as very thoughtful and not a person who goes with the crowd consensus or narratives. Those questions were terrible and make him sound unprepared and unprofessional.

I would have much rather heard the answers to the first 40 minutes worth of questioning which he glosses over in the interview. I would have thought Klosterman could ask some good questions that would make Brady stop and think, not things that he's heard 100 times before and not about freaking Deflategate which was declared dead six weeks before the interview.

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I think he was asking the questions his editors told him to ask. I think he stopped asking them, not because Brady didn't answer his initial questions but because he knew they were dumb.

yellow journalism at it's finest.

Unless you're absolutely certain that the interviewer will honor the pre-interview agreement, why speak to him at all?

PatsFanSince74 said:

I think he was asking the questions his editors told him to ask. I think he stopped asking them, not because Brady didn't answer his initial questions but because he knew they were dumb.

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I can see your point of view, although I think you are being a tad generous to the lickspittle.