Tom Brady Comments on Friendship with Donald Trump

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady often avoids controversy in the media as part of his team's philosophy. That extends to the political arena and his support for controversial Republican presidential candidate and personal friend Donald Trump.

Brady did his best to downplay endorsing Trump in a radio interview with WEEI on Tuesday, per Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com:

"

Donald is a good friend of mine. I have known him for a long time. I support all my friends. That is what I have to say. He's a good friend of mine. He's always been so supportive of me—for the last 15 years, since I judged a beauty pageant for him, which was one of the very first things that I did that thought was really cool. That came along with winning the Super Bowl. He's always invited me to play golf. I've always enjoyed his company.

"

Trump has been a polarizing figure in his bid for the Republican nomination in the impending 2016 presidential election. He has proposed banning all Muslims from entering the United States, which is among the most inflammatory remarks Trump has made and defended.

Hannable referenced an interview the Washington Post's Stephen Ginsberg and Robert Costa conducted on Dec. 3 in which Trump said he has Brady's full backing.

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe weighed in on the matter:

The "Patriot Way" New England has adhered to under head coach Bill Belichick discourages players from engaging with the media in a way that would create controversy. Other than his often humorous Facebook posts, Brady largely stays out of the spotlight off the field and doesn't offer a lot of candid answers in interviews.

"I think you are just more careful with what you say because you don't want a big headline with you saying something that's going to take the attention away from your teammates or what you're trying to do," Brady said, per Hannable.