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Maybe Tom Brady isn't voting for Donald Trump, after all

Ben Rohrbach
·Senior NBA writer
Maybe Tom Brady isn't voting for Donald Trump, after all

As it turns out, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady may not be Donald Trump's running mate.

What a pair it would've been: the four-time Super Bowl champion embroiled in the seven-month long deflate-gate saga and the cartoonish Republican presidential candidate — probably the two most divisive people of 2015 — sipping their opponents' tears from brandy snifters while laughing in the Oval Office.

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We've learned more about their relationship in recent weeks during Brady's weekly interviews on WEEI-FM. The two first met when Brady hosted one of Trump's beauty pageants in 2002 and have since shared the golf course on many occasions. More recently, Trump sent Brady a "Make America Great Again" hat.

When asked if he'd endorse Trump, Brady joked to WEEI's Dennis & Callahan, "I hope so. That would be great. There’d be a putting green on the White House lawn. I know that." He expanded on the radio:

“I don’t know. Am I going to vote for him? That’s a very good question. Honestly, he’s a good friend and we’ve had a lot of time on the golf course together over the years, probably not much recently, but when I was in my younger days I would have more time that I could spend doing those types of things before there were kids. We spent a lot of time golfing together.

“It’s pretty amazing what he’s been able to accomplish as an entrepreneur and then as a television star and now running for political office. People who can do those types of things and transition into different arenas and still have that type of appeal and carry over — he’s obviously appealing to a lot of different people. He’s a helluva lot of fun to play golf with.”

Trump being Trump, he ran with Brady's comments, telling a town hall in New Hampshire, "Tom is this incredible guy, total champion. ... He endorsed me yesterday," according to the Associated Press.

Asked for the third time this month on WEEI about his bond with Trump, Brady couched his comments.

"Look, I’ve known him for a long time. He’s been a fun guy that I’ve had a lot of time around. The fact that he’s running, it’s obviously led to a lot of stories and debates, and I know the ratings were huge for all those Republican debates and so forth.

"One way or the other, it’s so far away from when the election will be. And whatever I vote is going to be my own personal choice based on how I feel. I don’t even know what the issues are. I haven’t paid attention to politics in a long time. It’s actually not something that I really even enjoy. It’s way off my radar."

Brady went on to say his original "endorsement" was "taken out of context" and that he will be more careful discussing the topic in the future, if only to avoid distraction in the Patriots locker room.

Those who oppose the Patriots and aren't on board with Trump's vision to "Make America Great Again" will note that Brady attended George W. Bush's 2004 State of the Union address as a guest of the First Lady and did not attend a trip to the White House to meet President Barack Obama with his teammates.

And those who are on board with a Trump-Brady ticket should note patriotism is what makes America great in the first place. Personally, I'm just glad Brady's backtracking will successfully remove all divisiveness from the political discussion, and comment sections can go back to being cordial again.

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Ben Rohrbach

is a contributor for Ball Don't Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!