- The Washington Times - Monday, January 23, 2017

The New England Patriots’ 36-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Sunday’s AFC championship game wasn’t enough to make the President Donald Trump questions go away for quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady will soon appear in his seventh Super Bowl, but an interview Monday with Boston sports radio’s Kirk Minihane and Chad Finn turned into a question-and-answer session over the star quarterback’s friendship with the 45th commander in chief.

“You did call him — the president of the United States?” Mr. Brady was asked on “Kirk and Callahan.”

“I have called him, yes, in the past. Sometimes he calls me, sometimes I call,” said the quarterback, who has tried to avoid political questions since a “Make America Great Again” hat appeared in his locker in September. “But again, that’s been someone I’ve known. I always try to keep it in context because for 16 years you know someone before maybe he was in the position that he was in.”

The quarterback paused and then asked, “Why does that make such a big deal? I don’t understand it.”

Brady was told that he must have had “discussions with women in your life who say ’I can’t stand this guy. I hate this guy.’”

“I don’t want to get into it, but if you know someone, it doesn’t mean you agree with everything they say or they do,” the athlete replied. “You have a lot of friends in your life. I think there are things that are based in your own dealings with someone that is a personal dealing, not a public dealing. Because you have personal experiences.”

The discussion was rerouted when the quarterback said that he did not want to become a distraction to his team, which will play the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in Houston on Feb. 5.

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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