You know how it goes: when you’re on top, everyone wants to tear you down. Nobody can ever just enjoy someone being great, they’re always going to dig through the dirt and drag you down with them. It’s pathetic, really, but at this point we expect it — especially concerning the New England Patriots. Two Super Bowls in three years. Five Super Bowls in 16 years. The greatest QB-coach-owner combo in the history of football. And what does that earn them? A bunch of hatchet pieces coming out of dying media outlets. Despicable.
First, it was Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe trying to dig up some premium dirt on the GOAT himself, Tom Brady. Hohler’s sad attempt at a click-baity headline tells most of the story: “Tom Brady gives much to Best Buddies, but has taken millions for his own charitable trust.” In the article itself, Hohler makes a shocking accusation:
Since 2011, while Brady has served as the face of its signature Massachusetts fund-raiser and helped it raise nearly $20 million, Best Buddies has paid $2.75 million to Brady’s own charitable trust and has pledged to grant the organization an additional $500,000 in 2017 — a total of $3.25 million.
Oh, so Brady has helped raise tens of millions for Best Buddies (other figures claim he’s helped raise over $46 million since he began with the organization as a volunteer in 2001), and in return, Best Buddies spotted him a couple mil to help fund other charities. And what other charities, you ask?
Brady launched Change the World in 2005, after he signed his first big deal with the Patriots: a six-year, $60 million contract… Through 2015, nearly 98 percent of Change the World’s total contributions of $2.3 million since Brady’s initial donation were $2.25 million in grants from Best Buddies. Including Brady’s donation, the percentage is about 80%.
The first thing that really pisses me off about this whole article is the rampant use of the word “take.” As in, Brady has “taken” money from Best Buddies for his own charitable endeavors. When even the article clearly states that Best Buddies has been willingly paying Brady every cent that he has reallocated to his own charity. When you including words like “has taken millions for his own charitable trust” in a headline, you’re blatantly insinuating that Brady obtained this money without Best Buddies knowing about it, which is just not true. So there’s that.
So a good amount of the total money invested in Brady’s charity has come from Best Buddies; one charity helping another, nothing to see here. But, here’s arguably the best part: once that money leaves Best Buddies and heads to the books for Change The World, where exactly is it going?
And where did the money go? From 2011 through to 2015, Change the World gave grants of $55,000 to Best Buddies, after donating a total of $80,000 over the previous three years.
So… over the span of four years, Best Buddies gave up to $2.25 million to Change The World. And during that time, a small percentage of it has gone… BACK TO BEST BUDDIES? Almost like, a loan? A little money to get Brady’s passion project up and running? How dare they!
When you really think about it, Best Buddies is doing exactly what Brady has done for the latter half of his career: taking a pay cut so funds can be allocated elsewhere and everyone stays happy. They know Brady is their biggest moneymaker, and they treat him as such, giving him a small percentage of what he’s made for them so he can go out and do more charitable work. Shockingly, no crime there.
And yes, Brady’s Change The World Foundation has donated money to causes that are near and dear to Brady, like his high school and his kids’ private schools. And? It’s his money that he earned, he can’t allocate it to things he cares about? Like, I don’t know, these places?
Others getting $50,000 were Brady’s college alma mater, the University of Michigan, for cancer research; as well as Dana-Farber Cancer Center, Mission of Hope Haiti, and the Navy SEAL Foundation.
A charity honoring Tom Martinez, Brady’s longtime personal coach who died in 2012, received $37,800. And $30,000 went to a nursing facility in Minnesota that cared for Brady’s grandfather before he died in 2016.
Wow, donating to cancer research, Haitian charities, Navy SEALs, and memorial charities. I can’t believe the NFL hasn’t banned this guy for life! Sharpen your pitchforks, America, it’s time for another witch hunt!
In all seriousness, let’s call this what it is: an unknown Boston writer who writes for a rapidly-failing news outlet (that is owned by the Boston Red Sox) that needs to boost their online presence if they’re going to survive. He knows Pats fans are all over the interwebs, and he knows concocting some made-up crime that their Golden Boy “committed” will stir the pot enough to keep the lights on in the Globe offices for one more week. I get it, really. Gotta get food on the table. But maybe, just maybe, the Boston media can refrain from bashing the city’s ultimate hero, just for a little while? It’d really be nice.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, here comes Deadspin with this load of garbage:
Before we get into the content of this hit piece, let’s acknowledge the author: Bart Hubbuch. Sound familiar? These should help get the old juices flowing.
Oh yeah, and he was fired by the New York Post recently, after firing off this tweet comparing Donald Trump’s Inauguration to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor:
He also managed to briefly file and then give up on a wrongful discharge lawsuit against the Post before crawling to the sad corner of the internet that is Deadspin. Ok, so we’ve established who wrote this article. So what exactly does it say? Basically, Barty Boy is trying to accuse Robert Kraft of illegally getting cozy with a gambling company and reaping the benefits:
For the last three years, Kraft has held a spot on the board of directors of Manhattan private-equity behemoth Apollo Global Management. Among Apollo’s investments is one it made in 2008, when it teamed up with another private-equity outfit, TPG Capital, to buy a controlling 60 percent stake in Caesars.
Kraft started amassing his current stake of 267,240 Class A shares in Apollo shortly after joining its board in May 2014, according to SEC filings. Apollo’s latest annual report, filed with the SEC in February 2017, lists Kraft as one of just eight directors of the company. Only five other people, including founder and CEO Leon Black, own more shares in Apollo than does Kraft.
Both Caesars Entertainment and Apollo are publicly traded, and Kraft’s investment in Apollo (worth approximately $7 million based on recent trading) is pocket change relative to an estimated $5.1 billion fortune that ranked the 75-year-old Kraft No. 102 on Forbes’ most recent list of the world’s richest people. Kraft doesn’t hide his role with Apollo, either, listing his board spot in his bio in the Patriots’ 2016 media guide. He’s listed on Apollo’s site as well.
Now, for reality: Robert Kraft is on the board of directors of Apollo Global Management, a large investment firm that invests in TWENTY TWO businesses, one of which being a gaming company. Kraft has contributed to the disgusting, inhumane world of gambling by contributing $7 million of his $5.1 billion fortune — which comes out to about .14%. Jesus H Christ.
Meanwhile, while Hubbuch tries to act like he’s uncovering some big scoop like he’s trying to win a Pulitzer for Investigative Journalism, he clearly states that Kraft “doesn’t hide his role” with the company, listing it on his profile in the Patriots’ 2016 Media Guide and allowing his name to be listed under the company’s board of directors. So what exactly are we talking about here? An extremely small investment in one of Mr. Kraft’s many, many business endeavors, that works closely with a company who runs, among over things, a sportsbook? That’s what this was all leading to? That’s what his title emphatically states that “Rupert Murdoch’s paper never ran”? This? It’s pathetic, really.
Look, much like our boy Bobby from the Globe, I don’t even really fault Bart here. The Patriots are the most polarizing team in sports — for the most part, you either love them or you hate them. And either side of that spectrum will want to read an article about Robert Kraft being closely tied to gambling, because each side has a clear interest in a matter of that subject. But none of that makes it any less disgusting and pathetic.
Also, let’s acknowledge that times are changing here: after next season, one of the NFL’s most popular franchises is moving to Las Vegas. Recently, a group of active NFL players was seen blatantly violating NFL rules by participating in an arm wrestling event inside a Vegas casino; the players were fined an undisclosed (likely small) amount, and basically given a slap on the wrists. Meanwhile, all but six NFL teams have agreements in place with either DraftKings or FanDuel, organizations that been labelled as gambling by many US states. Oh, and don’t worry: Hubbuch’s precious Jets have been sponsored by FanDuel since April 2015.
To wrap up this never ending rant, I’ll concede this: I know I’m wasting my time here. I know no matter what I or anyone else says or does, people will continue to write articles like the two I’ve talked about here. They’ll continue to say Brady and Belichick’s legacies are tainted, and they’ll continue to doubt arguably the greatest sports dynasty this country has ever seen. But I don’t care: I just can’t sit idly by while these have-been’s and never-were’s continue to slander the greatest men to represent Boston since Sam Adams and Paul Revere. I just won’t do it.
