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Maybe He's Just Bored

Tom Brady posed a (bad) arty photograph on Twitter and the pro football world, especially its media subsection, went nuts. What did it all mean? Is Brady retiring? Is he moving to another stadium, that is, another football team? Nobody said, "maybe Tom just thinks it's a nice photograph."

Likewise, luxury housing markets in every NFL city appear to be getting a boost from Brady's pending free agency. He's looking at houses in a swank part of Nashville. He bought property in a swank Las Vegas development. Forget clicking on ESPN.com to find out what Brady's thinking about his future, instead check out Banker & Tradesman.

As it turns out, Brady has been in Miami this week, doing the usual NFL elite hanging out that takes place every Super Bowl week. And why not? He hasn't had a chance to do that for four years. Bill Belichick puts his Patriots teams under chain hotel house arrest when they're IN the Super Bowl.

The likelihood is that the Brady fever rumors are the creation of the desperate horde of NFL execs, media and fans who want to jump to a conclusion. Given that this nonsense could last until late March, one sees their point of view. Anyone here in Boston would find any Brady announcement a relief more than anything else.

Of course, telling any and all possible suitor franchises that their home burg is just the place for you and yours to live happily ever after is on the first page of the free agent's playbook in every sport. If Brady's doing that, well, it's part of that "testing the market" process we hear so much about. Just business, that's all.

Ah, but what if Brady is letting the rumor mill grind madly on for less pecuniary reasons. Being the biggest NFL star of the century is mostly swell, but there are parts of it, parts Brady encounters quite often, that are a real drag. You are surrounded with people whose job is to look over your shoulder and pry into at least your professional mind. Many of those folks deal strictly in what they can show are facts. Many do not. Idle speculation is now the sports media industry's leading product. I'm producing some right now.

Could be Brady is turning the tables. He might be generating rumors not for profit, but for fun. It's his turn, his first chance, to jerk the NFL world around and he's using it.

If so, my high professional respect for Brady will be supplemented by my high personal admiration.

posted by Michael Gee @ 1:02 PM