Ben Affleck dropped by CBS Sports Radio to discuss his new movie, “The Way Back,” and share his emotions regarding Tom Brady’s potential exit from New England.
“It would be sad,” Affleck said on Tiki & Tierney. “It’d be the end of an era. Watching the Patriots, led by Tom Brady, it’s inspired me personally and I know so many people. Sports means a lot to people. They project a lot on to it. It gets people very emotional, and people really invest. I love Tom Brady as a Patriot, but he’s also a great guy and a great athlete and I’d root for him if he played somewhere else.”
Brady is 219-64 in his career. He’s thrown for 74,571 yards and 541 touchdowns – both of which rank second all time. He’s played in nine Super Bowls and won six of them.
The idea of him in another uniform doesn’t seem possible.
“I think sometimes fans get this idea of sort of being possessive of a player,” Affleck said. “They got to do what’s best for them and their families. Tom’s brought so much joy and so much winning. When I grew up, my father was a little small-time bookie and just made a bunch of money because people would bet on Steve Grogan. That’s what bought us our first VCR. The Red Sox never won. The Patriots were so bad you couldn’t even watch them on TV because they couldn’t sell out the games. They were blacked out. Then all of a sudden, it’s like New England’s had these incredible winning franchises, and it’s a whole turnaround. A big part of that is Tom, so I think you have to be grateful. All things come to an end, but I think he’s definitely got a few more really good years.”
Affleck doesn’t know what will happen, but if Brady does leave for the Patriots, he’d like him to play closer to the West Coast.
“Do I see [him leaving the Patriots]? I’m not sure,” Affleck said. “I don’t have a sense one way or another whether it’s going to happen. If it did happen, if we had to confront that terrible scenario, yeah, I’d want him to be closer so I could watch him play.”
But what if Brady joins the Raiders and leads them to the AFC Championship Game against the Patriots? Who would Affleck root for in that scenario?
Affleck didn’t commit, cleverly dodging the question.
“I don’t see it being the Raiders,” he said, laughing. “That’s not going to happen. Chargers, maybe.”