Opinion | Super Bowl: the large scale hatred of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots is misguided

The hatred for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots is palpable among National Football League fans. It started years ago, as far back as 2007 when the Patriots were caught filming a team’s play-calling in Spygate. It culminated in 2015 with Deflategate, where the 41-year-old was found to have deliberately ordered the deflating of footballs. He got fined, suspended, and the Patriots along with their iron-fisted head coach Bill Belichick, who may be the only person hated more than Brady in the NFL, found themselves atop the villain’s list. There’s a number of reasons fans love to hate Brady and his Boston-based team. Brady, married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen, has what many feel is a smug, upper-crust look to him, and has made a career out of ducking criticism and remaining prim and polished in the face of utterly relentless dislike. Super Bowl: how Tom Brady’s weird diet, quirky workouts and special pyjamas keep him in top shape at 41 Each Patriots Super Bowl seems like a dagger to the heart of many NFL fans, and if Brady wins Super Bowl LIII in a few days, that antagonism will only build. The only problem with all of this hostility is the hatred is largely unwarranted, and when analysed, incredibly misguided. Let’s start with the cheating. Turns out, pretty much every NFL team has either been caught cheating or accused of it. This includes the Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts. Everything from bending rules to overtly using home field advantage, turns out the only thing the Patriots might actually be guilty of is being good cheaters given they’ve won five Super Bowls. Gamesmanship is nothing new in pro sports and the Patriots’ cheating scandals feel a tad overblown, and this may be a case of a lot of pots calling one particularly hated kettle black. How do supermodel Gisele Bundchen and her NFL star husband Tom Brady spend their millions? What about comparing Brady to other NFL players? The derogatory nickname for the NFL (the National Felons League) does come with substantial backing. USA Today has a Players Arrest database, which dates back to 2000 and has close to 1,000 entries. This includes everything from murder and rape to drug trafficking and assault. Brady is not on the list and does not even have a traffic citation to his name and is well known for his charity work, clean lifestyle and upbeat personality. His Deflategate case went to federal court in the US but one can hardly call deflating footballs a criminal act when stacked up against things like manslaughter, hit-and-run, domestic violence and possession of an illegal firearm. The league is also rife with suspensions for performance enhancing drugs, and Brady has never tested positive once in his 18-year career. Patriot’s Tom Brady sets NFL passing touchdown mark in loss to Dolphins Brady is also a poster boy for what it means to be a role model, not just as an athlete but a person. His upbringing is inspiring, he was a backup quarterback in high school in San Mateo, California, only landing the starter’s job after the number one QB went down with an injury. Brady barely registered on the college radar, and sent out tapes of his play to spur interest. In college at the University of Michigan, Brady was the backup for two seasons and had to fight with another QB to keep his starting position until graduation. His NFL draft combine video, which shows a lanky looking kid in an oversized T-shirt running a very awkward 40-yard dash has gone viral over the years. He was taken 199th in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, and only got the starting position with the Patriots after Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury. The rest, as we all know, is history, but to call Brady silver-spooned when his underdog roots are well apparent is silly. He has earned every opportunity he got, sat on the bench, and overcome numerous obstacles to be the greatest quarterback of all-time. Mandarin-speaking Tom Brady and an NFL predicting dog star in New England Patriots’ China-exclusive video series Brady made a great point recently, noting NFL players do not get to represent their countries like many other sports. One might think if Brady had helped the US win a football world championship over other nations, many fans would come around and get on the Brady bandwagon. He has also never jumped ship from the Patriots, and pretty much every other sport’s superstar (Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and LeBron James) has played for more than one team. Undying loyalty has to speak for something, right? During a recent press conference for the upcoming Super Bowl, a young fan asked Brady what he does in the face of negative press and “haters”. Brady’s response was typical: polished, positive and downright charming. “What do we do about the haters? We love them, and we wish them all the best in their life.”