Op-Ed

The Black Athlete: Tom Brady Deserves to be Punished

Published

10 years ago

May 18, 2015

By Omar Tyree
NNPA Columnist

I woke up this Tuesday morning to another bomb of sports news dropped on the NFL: “Four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, Tom Brady, has been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season. The New England Patriots will lose a first round draft pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and a fourth round pick in the 2017 draft. In addition, the Patriots organization will be fine a $100,000.”

What? Wow! All of this just for taking a little bit of air out 11 footballs for the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts in late January?

Yes! The NFL is dead serious about keeping its game fair, while addressing dozens of team and player infractions on and off the field in its desperate attempt to hold itself to high standards of integrity, which Tom Brady has apparently not bought into.

The whole football deflation issue and accusations have been no more than big a practical joke to Tom, as he repeatedly blew off the NFL officials with aw-shucks, come-on-guys jabs at press conferences, including locker-room guffaws about him not knowing anything. But the fact remains that 11 out of 12 footballs handled by Brady in the first half of the second biggest football game of the season – that sent his Patriots team and its loyal fanbase to their sixth Super Bowl in 15 years –were manipulated on purpose, for a quarterback who admittedly likes his footballs soft enough to grip and squeeze a little better, particularly in cold weather games.

Well, cold weather games are the norm in New England, and the Patriots have been known to bend the rules at all costs before. Nevertheless, Tom Brady must have considered the football deflation transgression as more of a slap-on-the-wrist variety that he need not take too seriously. However, NFL officials did not consider it all jokes and games, particularly with so many other serious issues that have circled the league in the past few years.

Once the “Wells Report” came out that it was “more probable than not” that Brady knew about a pair of Patriots team assistants who conspired to deflate the championship footballs before the game and cover-up their tracks, the professional football fraternity of players, coaches and executives, as well as a nation of fans and media were all waiting to see what would happen.

Would the all-American boy, Tom Brady, be given a slap on the wrist or a two-game suspension, as I had first predicted? We all knew the league had to do something, or run the risk of thousands of players, coaches, fans and sports media pundits questioning how serious the NFL is about keeping the integrity of their game up the par, regardless of who breaks the rules – particularly with suspensions being handed out left and right to African-American players who get into trouble off the field.

Is Tom Brady’s “little white lies” and jokes about deflated footballs any different from the “big black lies” of football players caught up in domestic violence disputes? I’m not necessarily comparing the two infractions, because domestic violence against women and children is surely a much bigger issue. However, I am comparing the lies, and lies to league officials during competitive and or criminal investigations should be handled the same across the board. In fact, if a deflated football is such a small issue, then why even lie about it, while declining to cooperate with any further questions?

I’ll tell you why. Tom Brady knows that deflated football is cheating and he doesn’t want to admit to it. It’s the same as a baseball pitcher slapping a little Vaseline on the baseball, or a slugger using cork in his bats. How about wide receivers and defensive backs using stick-em on their hands to catch the ball better, or a track star using an-inch longer spike than usual? How about NASCAR racers having an inch-longer wing on the back of their cars, or professional basketball players obviously flopping on a play to get a foul called?

These may all sound like small infractions to some of us, but they are all against the rules of their respective sports for a reason, and no one should be allowed to break those rules and laugh it off.

For the record, I am not a Tom Brady hater or a hater of the New England Patriots. I actually like the guy and all of the cool, blue-collar swagger that he seems to maintain in spite of his fame, wealth and international model wife. But nobody’s perfect, Tommy. Nobody! So his punishment, although more than I expected, sends a clear and concise message to everyone that the NFL – like the other professional sports leagues – is at least attempting to remain fair—unlike the rest of American society where race and class definitely makes a difference. So let’s all tune in and see what happens next. This may get real interesting.

Omar Tyree is a New York Times bestselling author, an NAACP Image Award winner for Outstanding Fiction, and a professional journalist, who has published 27 books, including co-authoring Mayor For Life; The Incredible Story of Marion Barry Jr. View more of his career and work @ www.OmarTyree.com.

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Actor, Philanthropist Blair Underwood Visits Bay Area, Kicks Off Literacy Program in ‘New Oakland’ Initiative

These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo.

By Paul Cobb
New Oakland Series
Opinion Part 3

The Post mentioned three weeks ago that a number of our local luminaries were coming together to support the “New Oakland” movement. As this current national administration continues to eliminate our “legacy” institutional policies and programs left and right, most communities find themselves beyond “frozen” in fear.

Well, esteemed actor, long-time Bay Area supporter, and philanthropist Blair Underwood returned to Oakland this week to speak with city leaders, community trust agents, students, the Oakland Post, and local celebrities alike to continue his “New Oakland” initiative.

This week, he kicked off his “Guess Who’s Coming to Read” literacy program in some of Oakland’s middle schools. Clifford Ray, who played the center position of the 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors, donated close to 1,000 books. Ray’s fellow teammate Charles “The Hopper” Dudley also gave Converse sneakers to students.

Underwood also spent quality time with the Oakland Ballers ownership group and visited the amazing Raimondi Park West Oakland community revitalization site. In the 1996 TV film Soul of the Game, Underwood played the role of the legendary first Black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and commended the Ballers owners.

“This group of sports enthusiasts/ philanthropists needs to be applauded for their human capital investment and their financial capital investment,” Underwood said. “Truly putting their money and passion to work,” Underwood said.

Underwood was also inspired by mayoral candidate Barbara Lee’s open-minded invitation to bring public-private partnership opportunities to Oakland.

Underwood said he wants to “reinforce the importance of ‘collaborative activism’ among those most marginalized by non-empathic leadership. We must ‘act out’ our discomfort with passionate intentions to create healthy change.”

Oakland Post

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Councilmembers Ramachandran, Kaplan, Unger Identify Funds to Save Oakland Fire Stations

Our budget crisis – one of the worst in Oakland’s history – is compounded by the fact that people do not feel safe coming to Oakland due to our public safety crisis. By investing in our fundamental public safety resources today, we can send a signal to the world that Oakland is open for business. We have such a rich and vibrant culture, arts, and food scene that is worth celebrating – but we can only showcase this if we are able to keep our neighborhoods safe. Having fully functioning fire stations are absolutely essential to these efforts.

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. Courtesy photo.

By Janani Ramachandran

There is no greater concern to the people of Oakland today than public safety. Fire stations are the bread and butter of essential city services – and every day that we have stations shuttered, we imperil the lives of our community members. In response to widespread outcry over the current and planned closure of stations, myself, along with Councilmembers Kaplan and Unger, have painstakingly worked to identify millions of dollars of new funding to save our stations. The legislation we introduced on Thursday, February 13th, will amend our budget to prevent the closure of four fire stations that are currently on the chopping block due to our budget crisis and will re-open two closed stations that have already been closed – Station 25 and 28 – in the near future. The resolution that will provide the funding to keep our stations open will go before the full City Council for a vote at our meeting on Tuesday, March 4^th at 3:30 PM – and we invite you to join us at City Hall to share your perspective on the topic.

With the devastating Los Angeles fire at the top of people’s minds, terrible memories of Oakland’s own wildfires are re-surfacing from the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm to the Keller fire just a few months ago – and how essential fire stations are to mitigating these catastrophes. But in Oakland, our fire stations don’t just fight wildfires – they also provide emergency medical services to our most vulnerable constituents, put out structural fires and encampment fires, and much more.

We recognize that there are a number of competing interests and important initiatives fighting for sparse City resources. But from my perspective, core safety services are the most pivotal functions that a City must spend its resources on – especially given the outcry we have heard around fire stations.

The fight to save our stations is not over. The resolution we introduced is a critical first step, and there are hurdles to overcome. If you support keeping our fire stations open, we invite you to be a part of the solution by making your voice heard at the March 4^th City Council meeting at 3:30 pm.

Oakland Post

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Activism

NNPA Launches National Public Education and Selective Buying Campaign

“We are the trusted voice of Black America, and we will not be silent or nonresponsive to the rapid rise of renewed Jim Crow racist policies in corporate America,” stated NNPA Chairman Bobby R. Henry Sr. “The Black Press of America continues to remain on the frontline keeping our families and communities informed and engaged on all the issues that impact our quality of life.”

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

Washington, DC: The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, has announced the planning and implementation of a national public education and selective buying campaign across the nation in direct response to those corporate entities that have dismantled their respective Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) commitments, programs and staffing. NNPA Chairman Emeritus Danny Bakewell Sr. explained, “Now is the time for the Black Press of America once again to emphatically speak and publish truth to power.”

At a recent convening of NNPA member publishers and editors, a united resolve was reached that each member publication of the NNPA will begin a national public education campaign coupled with the release of research data on those American companies that are engaging in efforts to sanction racial injustice, inequitable polices, divisive leadership, and economic apartheid in America.

“We note forthrightly that Black Americans spend $2 trillion dollars annually as consumers of products and services throughout the United States,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. emphasized. “We now must evaluate and realign to question why we continue to spend our money with companies that do not respect us,” Chavis continued. “This now must come to an end. These contradictions will not go unchallenged by 50 million Black Americans who have struggled for centuries to ensure equality, fairness and inclusion in our nation’s democracy.”

A selective buying campaign involves exercising the right to select what we spend our money on and who we spend our money with. We are starting with targeting TARGET.

The following are some of the major American companies that have publicly retreated from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: