Tom Brady declines to share his thoughts on Antonio Brown release

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady didn’t want to get into specifics regarding his personal reaction to the Antonio Brown saga.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is one of the longest-tenured athletes in professional sports – especially in the NFL. Whereas most professional football players might last just a year or two before injuries or their competitors catch up to them, Brady has defied conventional thinking by extending his remarkable career for 20 years now.

It’s safe to say that over those past two decades, Brady has experienced just about everything there is to experience in football.

He’s had hundreds of teammates at this point, all of whom have shared a locker room, a football field, or even something as intimate as a family dinner or a private workout with him. He’s encountered all of these personalities and managed to co-exist with most if not all of them, and he’s learned over his many years in the NFL when it’s appropriate to publicly articulate his thoughts and when it’s better to just remain silent.

When it comes to all the recent drama surrounding Antonio Brown’s brief and highly-controversial tenure as a Patriot, it appears that Brady is choosing the latter strategy.

“I do have a lot of personal feelings, none of which I really care to share,” Brady said on “The Greg Hill Show,” per WEEI’s Ryan Hannable. “That is about it. It’s a difficult situation. That’s kind of how I feel.”

It’s an answer (or non-answer) that shouldn’t really surprise anyone who has followed Tom Brady’s career or line of thinking these days. He recently cited a “lack of trust” in his interactions with the media, via NBC Sports’ Darren Hartwell, as being a major factor in why he no longer shares as much during interviews as he may have earlier in his NFL career.

Here’s more of Brady’s response to Hill when asked about Brown’s release from the Patriots:

"“There’s a lot of human elements, and I think because as a player and a person I care deeply about my teammates, I want everyone to be the best they can possibly be. From the day I started with this team, even back I’d say in college, it’s such a tight-knit group and you want everyone to become the best they can possibly be and you try to provide leadership. You try to care for people. You try to provide whatever you think you can to help them reach their highest potential, whatever situation it is. I’ve had a lot of teammates over the years. You invest not just your head, but your heart. You invest your soul. That is what makes a great team. That is what makes a great brotherhood. I think in the end, that is the endearing trait about sports.”"

Brady notably offered to let Brown stay with him and his family in his Massachusetts home while the troubled wide receiver was still getting settled in New England. The two reportedly quickly formed a bond and seemed to be genuinely excited about the football potential of their high-profile partnership, so it’s fair to wonder just what exactly Brady’s honest response was to news of Brown’s release last Friday.

Judging by his remarks to Hill, though, we may never know.