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Brady Under Fire After Tasteless Response To Ex-Teammate's Tribute To Dead Trainer

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There are not many ironclad social rules left in today’s America, but “keep your comments respectful when someone dies” remains one of those lines in the sand that’s more like a World War I trench.

So what on God’s green Earth was Tom Brady thinking on Instagram?

Former Minnesota Vikings trainer Fred Zamberletti died Sunday at the age of 86. He had served as the franchise’s head trainer from its very first season in 1961 all the way to 1998. Zamberletti then worked as coordinator of medical services for the Vikings from 1999 to 2001 and was team historian for the rest of his life.

In all, Zamberletti’s life included 57 years of being linked to one organization, making him the ultimate company man.

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Anyone who had even a tangential relationship with the team over the past more than half a century had kind words and memories to share about Zamberletti.

On Instagram, Hall of Famer Randy Moss said, “On behalf of all the Purple People Eaters & true Viking fans worldwide … ‘thank you mr. fred zamberletti!'”

Brady — on his verified account, with 4.3 million followers — commented, “You look better in a Pats uniform,” adding the “100” emoji.

https://twitter.com/DerekJamesNBA/status/1036566067001348096

OK, so admittedly Brady didn’t actually impugn Zamberletti’s character or otherwise speak ill of the dead.

But as a tone-deaf, self-serving, “What even is this?” comment, this one’s a whopper.

One tweet summarized Brady’s faux pas:

“Dunno if Tom understands human nature.”

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Yeah, that’s putting it mildly.

Brady tried to cover his tracks, editing his comment to “RIP” with a praying-hands emoji, but the internet never forgets, and the screenshot of the original remark has Brady in hot water with football fans in general and Vikings fans in particular.

Too bad this can’t go for Brady the way the “Deflategate” scandal went, with him covering his tracks by destroying his cellphone.

Does Tom Brady owe Randy Moss an apology here?

It’s probably not going to matter in the grand scheme of things, as people are focused on what the player does on the field rather than the dust-ups that go on off the field.

But for Brady, this is just another moment where his reputation as a selfish, empathically myopic robot only gets further reinforced in the minds of people who see his off-field behavior.

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Boston born and raised, Fox has been writing about sports since 2011. He covered ESPN Friday Night Fights shows for The Boxing Tribune before shifting focus and launching Pace and Space, the home of "Smart NBA Talk for Smart NBA Fans", in 2015. He can often be found advocating for various NBA teams to pack up and move to his adopted hometown of Seattle.
Boston born and raised, Fox has been writing about sports since 2011. He covered ESPN Friday Night Fights shows for The Boxing Tribune before shifting focus and launching Pace and Space, the home of "Smart NBA Talk for Smart NBA Fans", in 2015. He can often be found advocating for various NBA teams to pack up and move to his adopted hometown of Seattle.
Birthplace
Boston, Massachusetts
Education
Bachelor of Science in Accounting from University of Nevada-Reno
Location
Seattle, Washington
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Sports




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