A USA Today sports columnist says NFL superstar quarterback Tom Brady eluded criticism over his support for former President Donald Trump because of “white privilege.”
In a piece published Tuesday headlined, “Tom Brady has gotten an undeserved pass for his past support of Donald Trump,” Nancy Armour said the Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB shouldn’t get a pass just because he’s a star. And she blasted Brady for recently refusing to talk about politics, saying he was “happy to talk politics until he wasn’t.”
“How mighty white of him,” Armour wrote. “Brady’s ability to enter and exit the debate at his choosing, to shield himself from accountability, is the height of white privilege. As this country grapples with the far reaches of systemic racism, look no further than Brady, for whom the expectations, and allowances granted, will always be different.”
Armour noted that Brady had a “Make America Great Again” hat in his locker when he played for the New England Patriots and said the QB called Trump his “friend.” But Brady, who is heading into his 10th Super Bowl on Sunday, recently said he’s not talking about the former president now that he’s out of office and facing a second impeachment trial.
“In theory, it should not matter whether Brady supports Trump, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or someone somewhere in between on the political spectrum. He has a right to his private views,” Armour wrote. “But it was Brady himself who chose to make those private views public. If you think that MAGA hat just happened to wind up in his locker – at camera level, not buried at the bottom beneath a pile of cleats and clothes – I have a case of TB12 supplements to sell you. Brady has carefully cultivated his image over his 21-year career, whether it be his style or his social media posts, and he knew just what kind of reaction he would get.
“Brady has had the chance – several, in fact – to clarify or walk back his comments and has chosen not to … Instead, Brady has been allowed to divorce himself from it while Black athletes are made to own their views in perpetuity,” she continued. “It might seem petty to bring up Brady’s moral cowardice now, when the 43-year-old is accomplishing things unlikely to ever be seen again in the NFL. But celebrating what he’s done while turning a blind eye to what he has not is a privilege Brady does not deserve.”
Armour later took to Twitter, where she defended her piece. “ICYMI This isn’t about Tom Brady’s politics. Really. It’s about his refusal to recognize that his ability to enter and exit the debate when he chooses, to shield himself from accountability, is a privilege that Black and brown athletes don’t have,” she wrote.
ICYMI This isn’t about Tom Brady’s politics. Really. It’s about his refusal to recognize that his ability to enter and exit the debate when he chooses, to shield himself from accountability, is a privilege that Black and brown athletes don’t have. https://t.co/pb9PEhvgn0
— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) February 3, 2021
GOP strategist Chris Barron replied, saying, “140 million Americans over two elections voted for Trump – many of them black and brown. Your column is ridiculous.”