During the Patriots/Bills game on Sunday afternoon, Tom Brady shared a tense moment with New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Following an incomplete pass by Brady on a third-down play that eventually led to a Patriots’ field goal, McDaniels said something to Brady as he walked back to the bench and it didn’t sit well with the quarterback. Brady responded by briefly flipping out on McDaniels and screaming in his direction.
Brady downplayed the sideline incident after the game. He said it was "just football" and that he loves McDaniels.
The moment went viral after it happened with most of the sports blogs out there capturing it and sharing their thoughts on it.
At least one of Brady’s fellow NFL players shared his thoughts on it, too, and even went as far as it to suggest that a double standard seems to exist between how Brady’s sideline meltdowns are covered compared to how his sideline meltdowns have been covered.
It all started when the site BlackSportsOnline sent out this tweet about Brady’s sideline antics:
It led to one Twitter user pointing out that, if Odell Beckham Jr. did what Brady did, he would probably be crucified by the media.
"It’s 'passion' bro," Twitter user @Sean_Lyric wrote. "Imagine if @OBJ_3 showed some of this 'passion' towards any of his coaches…Smh #DoubleStandard."
That tweet caught OBJ’s attention, and at approximately 3 a.m. on Monday, he responded to it. He said he had just had a conversation about Brady’s blowup and argued the same thing the Twitter user had during it.
"Listen when I say this is the craziest thing someone ever has tweeted or posted to me because I LITERALLY had this same conversation today about the EXACT thing ur taking (sic) about it," OBJ wrote. "'There’s rules…and then there’s rules…'"
OBJ also pointed out some of the things people have said about him when he’s shown emotion on the sidelines during games. Some of his critics have said that he needs to grow up or find a better way to deal with his feelings.
"Or…immaturity, or 'needs to grow up' or 'selfish' or…ummm what else is it exactly 'they' say…or 'uncomposed' (sic) no bro," OBJ wrote. "I’ve watched that man do that exact same thing for years. Beat every time (sic) I cheered for in the super bowls…"
OBJ ended by referring to Brady as the GOAT. But he also pointed out that people need to understand that he often feels the same way Brady does on the sideline, which is why he is known to show emotion.
"I learned from him," OBJ wrote. "This is the 🐐. So I’m following his lead, I just may not know how to express it the same way. But don’t get it confused, how 12 feels about the game, I would have a hard time saying that’s not EXACTLY how I feel. #GoatChasin"
OBJ brought up some good points. While he hasn’t exactly done himself any favors by going above and beyond on the sideline at times (the whole kicking net thing was a prime example), he does catch a lot of flack for showing the same level of emotion Brady does.
But it doesn’t sound like most people wanted to hear OBJ weigh in on this particular topic because it actually just ended up leading to more criticism for him. We don’t know if it was because he seemed to compare himself to Brady or because people aren’t buying his thoughts here, but whatever the case, the Twitter user who sent out the original #DoubleStandard tweet said he was subjected to a lot of hate in its aftermath.
"yo @OBJ_3, I get it now bro," he wrote. "I knew you had haters, but I didn’t realize how bad it was til they all flooded my mentions. Unbelievable…keep being great, bro."
OBJ responded to him by saying that he, too, noticed all the hate he received for sharing his thoughts.
"Lol bro u have no idea what u started," OBJ wrote. "Now u got all these critics with no credibility mentioning me to try to gain some likes or attention for what? Lol to talk about what we already knew. Some things better left unsaid. Im not phased."
OBJ also asked people to stop sending negative tweets in his direction.
"Stop wasting ur time tweetin me today," he wrote. "Negativity im blind to it. I can’t see that. The amount of time and energy some of these people use to compose a tweet, u could be doin something better in this world. 24 hours in a day. And every second matters."
Additionally, OBJ quoted Drake to put a period on the situation.
"Without a response from me, u really fail to exist," OBJ wrote, quoting "9AM in Dallas."
OBJ has been sidelined for most of the Giants’ season with a leg injury, so we haven’t heard from him much lately. But he obviously touched a nerve here, and whether you’re buying what he’s selling or not, it’s clear that OBJ continues to be one of the most polarizing players in the entire NFL.
