"Can I just stay out of this debate?"
That was Tom Brady’s response to a Donald Trump question during his weekly radio appearance on the Dennis & Callahan morning show on WEEI. Brady spent 20 minutes discussing a variety of topics about his team, the win over the Texans Sunday night, on Rob Gronkowski and Malcolm Butler, and the upcoming game against the Titans.
But midway through the interview, the hosts couldn’t help but ask about Brady’s friend, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, whose comments about Muslims last week has sparked a firestorm of comments on both sides of the political aisle.
Brady, who has found himself an unwitting participant in Trump’s presidential campaign, tried to avoid the question.
"Can I just stay out of this debate?" he said. "Donald is a good friend of mine. I’ve known him for a long time. I support all my friends, that’s what I have to say…He’s always been so supportive of me."
"He’s always invited me to play golf," Brady continued, "and I’ve always enjoyed his company, and I support all my friends in everything they do."
When the hosts pressed to see if he was making or avoiding an endorsement of Trump, Brady refrained from answering, only saying, "This is really important to you guys, huh?"
The topic shifted to the matter of the Donald Trump hat that appeared in Brady’s locker earlier this season.
"I still have the hat," Brady said. "It’s still in there. He gave me a hat, I thought it was a nice thing. You guys have never sent me something in all the years I’ve been on your show. If you did, maybe it would be in my locker."
Brady also spent time lauding the Patriots defense.
"They’ve been pretty amazing," he said. "They’ve played a lot of really great football over the last half of the season, even early in the season. They’ve taken some injuries too just like on the offensive side of the ball…so it’s pretty remarkable what they’ve been able to overcome and achieve."
Brady also took a moment to praise Rob Gronkowski, whose play in his return from injury was one of the keys to the Patriots’ 27-6 win on Sunday.
"He’s a matchup nightmare," Brady said. "It’s hard to compare different positions…but I can’t say enough good things about Gronk because of what he brings to our offense. No one in the league has someone who’s as tough a mismatch as Gronk is."
Brady and the Patriots play their final home regular season game against Tennessee on Sunday.
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