Once upon a time, Tom Brady enjoyed a well-known friendship with the leading Republican presidential candidate.
Could that once again be the case during the upcoming election cycle?
Brady is texting buddies with polarizing Florida governor Ron DeSantis, the New York Times reports. Wisconsin's Republican gubernatorial candidate, Tim Michels, revealed the hot piece of political gossip at a recent campaign event (midterm elections are Nov. 8).
He says DeSantis was texting Brady when they attended a Packers game last season. "We're sitting there, you know, we're watching the game and all of a sudden, I look over and he's texting and he says, 'How do you spell Lambeau?'," said Michels. "I say, 'Who are you texting with?' He says, 'I'm texting with Tom Brady.' The governor of Florida gets to text with Tom Brady."
Michels added that he hopes to text with Aaron Rodgers when he's governor of Wisconsin. The Packers and Buccaneers are both 3-4 this season.
Donald Trump often boasted about his relationship with Brady, calling him out at campaign rallies. For a while, Brady returned the favor. He was spotted with a "Make America Great Again" hat in his locker and said it would be "great" if Trump were elected president (it wasn't an entirely serious endorsement, since Brady said Trump would put putting greens on the White House lawn).
As the 2016 election approach, Brady stopped talking about Trump, perhaps at the suggestion of his wife, Gisele Bundchen. Brady didn't attend the Patriots' Super Bowl celebration at the White House in 2017, a snub that reportedly angered Trump.
He didn't mention Brady in his speech when the Patriots visited.
Without specifics, it's hard to speculate about the nature of Brady and DeSantis' relationship. Maybe DeSantis, who's currently running for re-election as governor, will share more details at his next campaign event.
