NFL legend Tom Brady has managed to insult quite a lot of fans this week when he compared playing football to military deployment.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion knows the pressures and hardships that come with being a pro-athlete, but Tom really got people's backs up when he suggested that his job was similar to a life in the service.
Tom had been speaking to Brooklyn Nets basketball star Kevin Durant on the Let’s Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray podcast, when he said: "I almost look at like a football season like you’re going away on deployment in the military, and it’s like, ‘man, here I go again'."
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The NFL quarterback, who backtracked on his decision to retire from the NFL this year, continued: “There’s really only one way to do it … The reality is you can really only be authentic to yourself, right?”
While, it's true, Tom and teammates do have to spend long periods apart from their family for training and football season, that's just about the only thing they have in common with army vets.
And to compensate for the time away from his family, Tom is one of 2022's highest paid athletes, according to Forbes.
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Tom is also reportedly set to earn $375 million (£334 million) as a commentator for Fox Sports when he decides to retire. That's a lot more than an army vet would see in a lifetime.
Of course, it wasn't long before military veterans and families caught wind of Tom's sensational claims, and they didn't hesitate to let him know just how wrong he was.
"Hey @TomBrady", one furious fan tweeted. "Did you ever get shot at during practice? Blown up? Have your teammates get wounded or killed? Did you ever finish a practice and wonder how you were able to make it through alive??? YOU PLAY A GAME. Worst case scenario is you lose a game. Not a life."
A second wrote: "Tom Brady really compared making millions of dollars to throw a football in the NFL to being on a military deployment. NOT EVEN CLOSE! This guy in unravelling before our eyes."
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A third furious fan commented: "Tom Brady just compared leaving family for football to a military deployment..I’ve never heard more disrespectful sh*t in my life…"
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And a fourth, who was an army vet himself, noted: "Out of my 8(ish) deployments, I never made $15,000,000, went home every night, or spent time with my family. Not sure where @TomBrady thinks his playing in the NFL rates a comparison to military service."
At the time of writing, Tom hasn't yet responded to the backlash.
The NFL star announced his retirement from the sport back in February, before quickly U-turning, declaring he had 'unfinished business' on the pitch.
Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots before adding a record seventh with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he has now returned to the Florida side, coming in as the oldest quarterback to start a game in NFL history when he lined up against the Dallas Cowboys yesterday (Monday 12 September).
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He has been named league MVP on three occasions and Super Bowl MVP in five of his wins.
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Topics: NFL, Super Bowl, Sport