It started in 2005. After the Colts demolished the Patriots in Foxboro 40-21, Tom Brady left the field, changed, and exited the stadium refusing to take questions from the press. I remember watching that and think, Huh, that was sort of an immature and dickish thing to do. I mean, how many times (up until then) had Peyton Manning stood up in front of the firing squad national press and answered stupid question after stupid question following a Colts loss to the Pats? Two years later, I saw Brady re-enter a blowout game against the Miami Dolphins, after being taken out, just so he could pad his stats. Then, just prior to playing the Giants in the Super Bowl, Brady laughed off the notion that the Giants defense would hold the Pats to 17 points.
Um, New York held them to 14. New York won the game. Tom Brady played awful.
In 2006, Tommy Boy also ditched his then-pregnant girlfriend just so he could hang out with the world's richest supermodel. Now, he and said supermodel are married, and at one of their weddings (because one just isn't enough for millionaires, it seems) the couple's security people opened fire on two cameramen.
Now, this news hits the blogosphere. It is the story of Dennis Paiva, and man who took two flower pots from a trash heap, sold them, and then was busted for larceny:
"I saw these two stainless steel metal containers behind a garage next to the trash," Paiva said. "Scrap metal was really high at the time so I grabbed them and put them in my truck."
Paiva took the planters to a scrapyard in Everett, collected $450 and was feeling pretty good about life. Right up until he got a call from a Boston police detective.
"The guy mentions I took some flower pots," Paiva recalled. "I said,‘I don't know what you're talking about.' He said, ‘We got you on the security camera.' And I said, ‘Yeah, I took them, but they were out with the trash.' He said, ‘You gotta get them back. You don't even want to know who they belong to!' "
Well, when Paiva heard who owned his "scrap metal," he rushed back to the yard but, of course, the planters were history. He went back to police and told them the sad tale and was promptly cited for larceny.
"I said, ‘You're kidding me, they were in the trash!' " Paiva said.
The pots belonged to Tom Brady. Now, because of trips to the hospital and other ailments that have prevented him from finding a job, Paiva is out on the street begging for the $333.33 a week which he must pay back to Tom Brady for the metal pots.
Small side note: Tom Brady is a multi-millionaire. He's also married to the richest model in the world. Did I mention that already?
Deadspin offers this response from a Patriots spokesman:
A Patriots spokesman said "he doubts Brady is aware of Paiva's situation."
Maybe so. Still, making the dude pay back $4,000 for some crap you laid out near your garbage? That's just cold, man. Cold.
I have tons of respect for Brady the football player. Brady, the man, seems kind of aloof. Oh, and kind of a douche too. I mean, $4000 dollars? Did I tell you he's a multi-millionaire?
Also, small side note: Despite this list of rather sketchy incidents, especially the one where his security people fired bullets at cameramen, Tom Brady's reputation is spotless in the eyes of most fans and media. Compare this to Marvin Harrison. Up until someone used a gun possibly owned by Marvin to shoot at a convicted felon who had been causing trouble at a bar, Marvin Harrison's reputation was utterly spotless. No one had anything negative to say about him. After that incident, which never involved Harrison and never resulted in any charges against him, Marvin's name was dragged through the mud by everyone. From ESPN hacks like Sal Paolantonio to internet douchebags like Mike Florio, they spit on his reputation and didn't give a rat's ass when all of their hunches, "unnamed sources," and suggestions about Harrison were dead wrong. Meanwhile, Brady and his associates do all this crap, and he gets a pass. Gotta love the media!
UPDATE: Great quote in the comments:
Who points a security camera at their trash cans?