In the discussions about the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, Tom Brady has been rather reserved recently. Instead, the new quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers caused a stir by violating the Corona rules. When it comes to political engagement, Brady, who is friends with Donald Trump, seems torn.

Jarvis Landry chose the very big stage to approach Tom Brady.

“The league needs your voice right now,” the Cleveland Browns’ wide receiver wrote on Twitter, “We need our leaders in these meetings with the NFL. I ask you as a teammate, as a brother, as one of the most respected players of all time. We need to hear you.”

Landry added the hashtags #Salute and #Unity, as well as a clenched fist, which is considered a sign of the Black Lives Matter movement. Exactly what Landry wanted from Brady remained unclear.

@TomBrady The leagues needs your voice right now.. We need our Leaders on these calls with the NFL. Ask you as a fellow athlete, as a brother, as one of the most respected players of All-Time… We Need To Hear You #Salute✊🏾 #Unity

— Jarvis Juice Landry (@God_Son80) July 10, 2020

Presumably, it was about things that need to be clarified with regard to the implementation of the upcoming NFL season in the shadow of the COVID 19 pandemic. After all, the situation in the USA is particularly worrying, with players and the league likely to need to talk.

Tom Brady holding back
But Landry didn’t get an answer from Brady. In general, the new quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did not comment on the major political issues.

The death of George Floyd, the resulting riots, the Black Lives Matter movement, didn’t get much from Brady. On Instagram he merely posted a black picture on “Black Out Tuesday”, with praying hands, but without any further comment on the political situation or the controversial US president Donald Trump.

And this despite the fact that even Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and longtime supporter of Trump, has recently been very critical of the president, describing his statements as “deeply disappointing” and calling his policies divisive.

Other sports superstars such as basketball player LeBron James or Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton were even more outspoken, and some of their criticism was far out of the window.

Brady violates Corona rules
Even with the biggest topic of the year, the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Brady has not been particularly positive so far. Although he has raised money by participating in charity golf and poker tournaments, he doesn’t seem to take the Corona rules very seriously himself.

In the middle of the Florida Corona hotspot, the 42-year-old most recently held group training sessions with teammates like Rob Gronkowski against the recommendation of the NFL and the NFLPA players’ union. In April, he had already been thrown out of a park in Tampa Bay for violating the Corona rules. At times, he was harshly criticized for his behavior on the net.

The 42-year-old’s behaviour can probably only be explained by his ambition. Brady wants to prove it to everyone in Tampa Bay once again and ideally win the Super Bowl in his home stadium in February.

The fact that Brady is prepared to go to the limits of what is justifiable for success has been demonstrated several times in his long career. Sometimes he might even go a little bit further.

A role model in the field, reticent on political issues
While Brady always marches in front on the football field, he is all the more reserved when it comes to setting an example in social and political issues.

For many years, the quarterback has probably been the most prominent player in a league in which around 70 percent of all players are black. He has also started a family with Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen, so a colourful and open world should be close to his heart.

And yet his political statements often sound half-hearted. Which could be because he has a long-standing friendship with Donald Trump.

At the age of 24, the young Patriots quarterback met the future president for the first time, Trump invited him to golf, rang Brady’s doorbell after games and made him a juror in the “Miss America” election. Rumor has it that Trump even tried to set Brady up with his daughter Ivanka.

Congratulations to Tom Brady on yet another great victory- Tom is my friend and a total winner!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2015

“Doesn’t want to get involved in political stuff”
The relationship became difficult when Trump put himself forward as a presidential candidate. “The whole political aspect came up, it was so polarizing during the election campaign”, Brady told Howard Stern in an interview for “SiriusXM” in 2016: “It was unpleasant for me, I didn’t want to destroy the friendship, but political support is something different than support for a friend”.

Initially, Brady kept a “Make America Great Again” cap in the Patriots’ locker room, but a little later Gisele Bündchen made a public statement saying that she and Tom Trump’s candidacy would not be supported. After winning the Super Bowl in the 2016 season, Brady refused to visit the White House, which is said to have led to an outburst of anger at Trump.

“I just don’t want to get caught up in these political things,” Brady, who seems torn, said that same year.

Ultimately, this creates the image of a man who primarily wants to play football and prefers to stay out of social discourse.

Brady does not answer
You can’t really blame him for that. But the greatest sportsmen and women of all time – think of Muhammad Ali, for example – have become legends not only because of their sporting prowess, but also because of their clear opinions and their commitment to political and social issues.

So one could also expect a little more opinion and commitment from Tom Brady.

But hope should not be too great. Jarvis Landry was still waiting for an answer on Sunday evening.