Tom Brady apologizes for comparing playing football to military deployment

TAMPA, Fla. —  Tom Brady apologized Thursday for making a comparison between football and military deployment while interviewing NBA star Kevin Durant on the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s weekly podcast.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback said he used a “very poor choice of words” on the SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray” while he and Durant were discussing the difficulty of balancing a commitment to being highly successful athletes with life outside of sports.

“Earlier this week I made a statement about playing football and the military. It was a very poor choice of words,” Brady said Thursday. “I just want to express that to any sentiments out there that people may have taken in a certain way, so I apologize.”

Durant was a guest on the podcast Monday.

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“I almost look at a football season like you’re going away on deployment in the military, and it’s like, ‘Man, here I go again.’ There’s only one way to do it. ... The reality is you can really only be authentic to yourself, right?” Brady said on the podcast.

He added: “Whenever you may say, ‘Oh man, I want to, you know, make sure I spend a little more time doing this.’ When it comes down to it, your competitiveness takes over and as much as you want to have this playful balance with the work balance, you’re going to end up doing exactly what you’ve always done, which is why you are who you are. You’re going to go, ‘How do I get it done?’”

The quarterback was asked Thursday to explain the point he was trying to make during the podcast.

“To be honest, I really don’t want to expand on it too much. ... I have a tremendous amount of gratitude for everyone who served [in the military],” Brady said.

“In the end, we play a game and the military is defending our country,” Brady added. “It’s two very different things, and I shouldn’t have made the comparison.”