 Brady was at a public event Thursday night with his first comments since the Wells report was released. (FILE PHOTO) |
Tom Brady was at the O'Keefe Center at Salem State on Thursday night for a previously scheduled public appearance, which comes just one day removed from the revelation of the Wells report and became a locally televised event thanks to the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the investigation.
It appeared to be a successful event, with the announcement that the attendance for the evening having been the biggest in their history. It was sponsored by local businessman Dennis Drinkwater, who is the owner of Giant Glass, while Brady was their guest speaker on the night.
The event was scheduled to begin around 7:30pm, but due to the number of people who appeared, the event started about 25 minutes late.
Following the introduction, Brady was brought out through the audience, who erupted into a deafening roar as people cheered and clapped as the Patriots signal caller took the stage. The veteran, who was dressed in a dark blue suit jacket, khacki colored dress pants and an unbuttoned white dress shirt, sat in a chair on the stage across from reporter Jim Gray and received repeated "M-V-P" chants from a crowd who clearly rallied around him.
"This is like a Patriots pep rally," said Brady. "Thank you guys for being here. Thank you very much."
Gray asked some of the difficult questions to kick off the evening, which was broadcast locally on Comcast Sports New England among several other networks. He lead things off by saying, "We are going to keep this evening as to what it was supposed to be, however there is an elephant in the room."
"Where?" responded a smiling Brady, which drew some laughs from the crowd.
When asked about his reaction to the Wells report, Brady said, "It's only been 30 hours and I haven't had enough to digest it fully but when I do, I'll let you know."
Brady said he's planning a response, which he says will be, "Hopefully soon, hopefully soon. There's still a process that's going forth right now" and that he wants to be "very comfortable" with his response.
He was asked about whether or not the Super Bowl should be considered "tainted", to which Brady asked the crowd, "What do you think?" which drew quite a response. He later responded, "Absolutely not."
Brady was also asked about his absence from the White House, which he said, "It's a pretty cool place, you guys should go." He said that he'd be there next time if they're lucky enough to make it back next season, but blamed the short notice and a previous family commitment for the reason he missed this one.
All in all it was a nice evening for a guy who, if this whole mess is bothering him, isn't showing it visibly. He credited a lot of people who care about him, including his family, friends and his fans.
Those fans will now be anxiously awaiting exactly what he has to say about all of this.
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