Brady apologizes for comparing playing football to the military

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Tom Brady apologized Thursday for making a comparison between football and the military while interviewing NBA star Kevin Durant on the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s weekly podcast.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback said he used a “very poor choice of words” on the SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray” as he and Durant discussed the difficulties of balancing the commitment of being a highly successful athlete with life outside of sports.

“Earlier this week I made a statement about playing football and the military. It was a very poor choice of words,” Brady said. “I just want to express that to any feelings that people may have taken a certain way, so I apologize.”

Durant was a guest on the podcast on Monday.

“I almost look at football season like you’re going into the military, and it’s like, ‘Man, here I go again.’ There is only one way to do it. … The reality is that you can only really be authentic to yourself, right?” Brady said on the podcast.

“Whenever you can say, ‘Oh, man, I want to, you know, make sure I spend a little more time doing this.’ When it comes down to it, your competitiveness takes over and as much as you want to have this playful balance with the work balance, you end up doing exactly what you’ve always done, which is what makes you who you are,” added Brady. “You’re going to go, how do I do it?”

The quarterback was asked Thursday to explain what he was trying to convey during the podcast.

“To be honest, I really don’t want to spread too much about it. … I have tremendous gratitude for everyone who has served (in the military),” Brady said.

“At the end of the day, we play the game and the military defends our country,” Brady added. “They are two very different things and I shouldn’t have made the comparison.”

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