Tom Brady walks back on Patriots comment and sends direct message to Robert Kraft after Hall of Fame snub

New England Patriots legend Tom Brady has generated plenty of headlines in Super Bowl week.

The ex-quarterback managed to do that despite not playing in the big game, or even being in the booth for it.

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As Brady watched his former team prepare to challenge for the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since he was under center, he made waves by failing to publicly back them.

“I don’t have a dog in the fight in this one,” he said of the Patriots’ Super Bowl LX match-up with the Seattle Seahawks.

“May the best team win.”

That comment, unsurprisingly, didn’t go down well in New England.

Fans, ex-teammates and even some current Patriots criticized Brady’s stance in the days that followed.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion, regarded as the greatest of all-time, heard the outcry.

Tom Brady walks back on baffling Patriots comment

In a social media post on Friday night, the NFL legend indicated that he is indeed backing his former team, and sent a direct message to owner Robert Kraft — who was this week snubbed by the Hall of Fame.

“You know I got your back RKK,” Brady wrote, captioning a picture of the pair.

“Get that seventh ring so we can match.”

Aside from playing for the Patriots for 20 years, Brady had his number retired by the franchise, and even boasts a statue outside Gillette Stadium.

Not known, clear with picture desk

His initial reluctance to back New England was made even more bizarre given one of his former teammates — Mike Vrabel — is the current head coach.

Brady’s longtime offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, has also returned to that role with the franchise.

His ‘no dog in the fight’ comment rubbed Patriots, both past and present, the wrong way.

What backlash did Tom Brady face for Super Bowl comments?

Vince Wilfork, who won the Lombardi Trophy twice alongside Brady, suggested his initial reluctance to back New England came down to the ‘politics’ of being a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.

“That’s bull****, Tom,” he said during an interview with Boston radio station WEEI.

“All that political — this ain’t political. It ain’t political, what it is. Raiders ain’t in it. Say what it is, what you see.

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“At the end of the day, if you’re a Patriot for life, you know what it is.

“Don’t give me that political bull****. That’s just what it is. If you don’t think we’re gonna win, just pick Seattle then. Don’t straddle the fence.”

Rob Gronkowski, who played a key role in the Patriots’ dynasty alongside Brady, joked his close friend might have been jealous about Drake Maye making the big game.

“He probably wants to be the quarterback,” Gronkowski said during an appearance on Up & Adams.

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“He’s that competitive. He probably wants to be the guy in the Super Bowl right now.”

Even current Patriots stars took notice of the comment.

“Personally, it makes me sick,” linebacker Robert Spillane said.

“But at the end of the day (he’s a Patriot); he has a dog in the fight. So for him to say that, it is what it is.

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“At the end of the day, he’s an owner of the Las Vegas Raiders now, so he has to do what’s best for him.”

Brady, then, was probably smart to walk back on those comments.

He will now be able to show his face in Foxborough again, and will probably avoid any dirty looks at future team reunions by saving face.

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