Hope all of you had a good weekend, and now it’s time to get back to it. Here’s a look at this morning’s top stories.
Sunday Tear Down of Brady – For some reason, the Boston Globe decided to treat an article regarding Tom Brady’s philanthropic interests as some sort of in-depth investigation that required prime attention in Sunday’s edition of their newspaper.
The focus of the story, written by Bob Hohler, centered on Tom Brady’s allocation of the money raised by his charity, Best Buddies, which Hohler wrote went to additional charities the quarterback supports.
According to the Globe, while Brady has helped Best Buddies raise $46.5 million, the charity has contributed $2.3 million toward Brady’s other chosen charities, which, while news-worthy, certainly doesn’t exactly require the type of attention that the Globe felt it was worth.
So money raised by Brady’s charity ended up contributing to other charities…got it. Feels a lot like nothing to see here.
We won’t get into too many details of where the money went aside from the fact that the newspaper reported donations went to the University of Michigan (Brady’s college alma mater) for cancer research, Dana-Farber Cancer Center, Mission of Hope Haiti, and the Navy SEAL Foundation. His former high school also received a contribution.
So again, while interesting, it’s hard to act like the newspaper found a smoking gun. Yet, as expected, other publications are now jumping all over it like it’s a big news story.
Tom Brady arranged for a special needs charity to fund his own interests (including his children's private schools) https://t.co/bHTJdfEEYc pic.twitter.com/ydTHTxVtLW
— New York Post (@nypost) April 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/856306314993160193
Is Tom Brady using a charity to fund his own foundation? https://t.co/U9Ph1Tqk2L pic.twitter.com/p7gColmieC
— Esquire (@esquire) April 23, 2017
Tom Brady gives much to Best Buddies but takes millions for his own charitable trust, reports @BostonGlobe https://t.co/Mej3UCLoXI
— Lindsay Cohen (@lindsaycohen) April 23, 2017
Tom Brady’s personal foundation funded in large part by money from Best Buddies charity: report https://t.co/UUeaYDUUYy pic.twitter.com/oqS1Wn1LqN
— NY Daily News Sports (@NYDNSports) April 23, 2017
Tom Brady, Best Buddies reportedly have a mutually beneficial relationship https://t.co/KkA3HMWRTr
— Post Sports (@PostSports) April 23, 2017
Well done by the Boston Globe, which did a great job overshadowing this piece from the Herald about Brady from just two days ago, which, oddly enough, didn’t get the same national coverage that the Globe’s did.
But as we begin the week, don’t be surprised if the next few days are spent by some in the media trying to make more out of it than it already has been.
Matt Chatham said it best:
Read this
Then think on the Boston Globe concluding this same Tom Brady deserves some reckless muckraking
Then feel sad about America https://t.co/E7wH5FRO3P
— Matt Chatham (@chatham58) April 23, 2017
And yes, we should.
Schefter Sticks to His Story On Garoppolo – With the NFL Draft quickly approaching, there will be some discussion this week involving Jimmy Garoppolo but according to Adam Schefter, he’s not going anywhere.
ICYMI (in February): Jimmy Garappolo isn't going anywhere. His name continues to surface in trade rumors and speculation – not happening.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 23, 2017
This is a story that Schefter reported back in February and so far he’s been right, as the Browns were among the biggest suitors for the quarterback’s services but they’ve since seemingly moved on.
But Garoppolo’s presence is just another part of a roster that overall is looking pretty strong from top to bottom.
Bill Belichick is wise to ride this train until the end as the Oakland Raiders were a prime example of how important it is to have a viable back-up sitting behind their starter. The loss of Derek Carr last year completely derailed any hope they had of a deep playoff run, and having Garoppolo at least gives the Patriots a shot should they find themselves in a similar situation.
Hopefully they won’t need him, but it’s clearly a risk worth taking since it gives them their best chance to stay alive if Brady, who will be 40 this season, goes down. Where it will get interesting will be after this season when the team could be faced with a difficult decision involving either quarterback, depending on how Brady plays. If it’s business as usual for Brady, Garoppolo may finally get his opportunity to start elsewhere next season.
But for now, we’re on to 2017 and, as nice as the possibility of getting draft picks from him might be, having Garoppolo here for another year certainly won’t hurt.
Edelman and Amendola’s Shenanigans on Display Sunday – One of the best parts of Danny Amendola’s recent news of a restructure means that he and Julian Edelman will be together for at least another season.
The two are pretty hilarious and on Sunday they were out skateboarding in Boston while asking fans to come find them.
https://twitter.com/OnlyInBOS/status/856279534332657664
The duo are seen throughout the video skateboarding around the city, including one point where it got a little dicey after one player found himself in tight quarters in between a couple of vehicles.
Thankfully, disaster was averted and the two are seen at the end getting fired up for the Bruins, who unfortunately lost game 6 in overtime and were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday.
From there, Edelman was at the University of Rhode Island in Edwards Auditorium Sunday night as part of URI Springfest:
https://twitter.com/OnlyInBOS/status/856285929878597633
In the above video, Edelman apologizes for being late after catching the Bruins game but told those waiting for him that he would see them soon.
Ryan Fined for Play in Super Bowl LI – Apparently the NFL handed out a fine to former Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan, which was due to a play where it was ruled he committed unnecessary roughness during the contest.
Mike Reiss of ESPN cited a report in his Sunday notes from Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky, who is now covering Ryan in Tennessee with his new team, where Ryan received the news but couldn’t even recall what play it was that lead to the fine.
Ryan had a busy night, finishing with six tackles but was never penalized, so it’s unclear what play caused the $9,115 penalty he received from the league.
Fortunately for Ryan, thanks to the 3-year $30-million deal he signed with the Titans during this past offseason, he can afford it.
Rams Waive Jackson After Failed Physical – Former Patriots guard Tre’ Jackson seemed like he ended up in a good situation in Los Angeles with the Rams but that opportunity ended before it ever got started.
According to ProFootballTalk.com, Jackson failed his physical, which reportedly stems from the knee injury he suffered last season that is apparently still an issue.
As a result, it leaves him still looking for work and considering the type of player he was here before he got hurt, hopefully for his sake, he’s able to recover and get another opportunity.
ESPN WON’T TIP PICKS – Apparently the league will continue clamping down on broadcast partners tipping draft picks and that remains a point of emphasis this year as well.
According to ProFootballTalk.com, ESPN reiterated its intention not to disclose the picks before their announced, although they didn’t include the fact the NFL was behind the decision.
“We will allow our staffers to tweet any behind the scenes conversations teams are having, trade talks, debates, etc., but what we won’t allow is for them to flat out give away draft picks before the Commissioner announces them,” ESPN senior coordinator producer Seth Markman told Richard Deitsch of SI.com via PFT. “As I have said in the past, our viewers have overwhelmingly told us that they do not want us to spoil the drama of the draft in any way. This goes for Twitter, too.”
As PFT points out, there will still likely be others outside the networks who will still announce picks before their revealed on television. It’s interesting that the World Wide Leader is trying to preserve the fan experience on television considering the massive losses in viewership they’re continuing to experience that is seeing them be forced to cut more than 40 on-air personalities.
The bigger question is going to be down the road as cord-cutting grows and subscriber numbers continue to plummet, what will the breaking point be before the NFL suffers the revenue implosion many have predicted? While people love the sport, the fact they don’t want to pay the premium for cable is a very real problem that will eventually hit the NFL head on. The league might think there might be a “next man up” to keep their billions rolling in but the trend of dropping cable isn’t dying anytime soon.
As a result, they should be very concerned. ESPN’s collapse is a very real problem that will hurt the league eventually, and there are only so many people ESPN can cut before the league finds out there might not be someone there to pick up the tab after they’re done bleeding them dry.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
