Tom Brady says trademark was meant to stop folks from calling him ‘Tom Terrific’
Tom Brady has an answer for everything, doesn’t he?
Just when we non-New England Patriots fans thought we had another reason to hate the six-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Brady comes up with an explanation that makes him look like the good guy.
Many sports fans, especially those who root for the New York Mets, have been in an uproar after word got out that Brady had applied to trademark the nickname “Tom Terrific.” That moniker, of course, is most often associated with legendary pitcher Tom Seaver, who won a World Series with the Mets in 1969.
But Seaver, now 74, never trademarked the name, leaving the door open for Brady to swoop in and claim it all to himself.
Or so it seemed. But Brady told reporters Thursday that he hates being called “Tom Terrific” and applied for the trademark with the intention of preventing anyone from ever using it in reference to him.
“I was actually trying to do something because I didn’t like the nickname and I wanted to make sure no one used it because some people wanted to use it,” Brady said. “I was trying to keep people from using it, and then it got spun around into something different than what it was. Good lesson learned, and I’ll try to do things a little different in the future.”
He added: “I don’t like when people probably give me many nice compliments, certainly that. It wasn’t something I was trying to do out of any disrespect or ill-manner or anything like that.”
OK, so we non-Patriots fans don’t have a new reason to hate Brady — but we also now know he hates being called “Tom Terrific.” Hmmmm …
Sign up for our daily sports newsletter »
Twitter: @chewkiii
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
