Deflategate isn't the reason you should hate Tom Brady, his Facebook page is
Tom Brady is going to return to the field on Sunday and the fans in Cleveland are going to boo him, as they should.
Because of Deflategate, Spygate and just generally being associated with Machiavellian heel Bill Belichick, Brady is seen as a cheater. That may be true, but the real reason you should hate Brady is his Facebook page.
Brady has more Facebook fans than most teams in the NFL and his posts make for easy blog fodder, even for this very site, that usually paint Brady as some clever social media expert. In a way, he is, because he had the sense to pay two other guys to run the page for him, though he supposedly contributes occasionally.
What I don’t get is why Brady feels the need to present an inauthentic version of himself online. This isn’t Carmelo Anthony firing back at his detractors in the comments of an Instagram post, it’s a carefully crafted presentation of what other people think Brady’s public persona should be. What’s the point?
Sure, it helps him with his sponsorships (Under Armour and Beautyrest mattresses are great, his posts tell me), but Peyton Manning doesn’t need a professionally managed social media presence to land lucrative endorsements. Even Alex Rodriguez has managed to use social media to make himself slightly less hated. LeBron James is active all over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but his social media presence feels effortlessly natural. Brady’s is forced.
Just look at his face in this photo. He’s not having fun.
Occaisionally he gets his comeuppance, though.
Look, as a guy who spends a lot of time managing social media for a brand (follow SI Extra Mustard on Facebook!), I fully understand that that promoting brands online is a necessary task. But Brady isn’t a brand, he’s a human being with a family and (probably) emotions. It would be nice if he used Facebook to show that.
Oh, and his diet is the worst, too.
