How Times Have Changed: Now the NFL is (Correctly) Defending Tom Brady When He's Accused of Wrongdoing

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Well now here's something no one could've seen coming. It's been, what? … eight or nine years now since Tom Brady was going into a Federal courthouse every day fighting for his career and his reputation against a giant mega-corporation and its evil despotic leader. And the reason he ultimately lost wasn't because he had done anything wrong. But because the judge ruled that the despot in question had been made all-powerful by the organization he runs. Essentially the NFL gave one of his predecessors the power of Caesar. And in 2015-16, it was now in the hands of a Caligula. 

Then, the whole country stood against Brady save for a few intrepid souls who refused to leave their posts upon the metaphorical wall that defended him. He was a national laughingstock. A disgrace. All his accomplishments were being discredited, not only on the sports shows, but on nightly newscasts, where he was the top story. 

Then, it would've been impossible to foresee what Brady's life would be like in 2025. That he would be a few years older, while looking younger. He'd have three - THREE! - more championships, despite the air pressure in the footballs allegedly conforming to the instructions on the back of the Wilson package. Every record in the book worth having. The sweetest job in broadcasting. And a piece of the football empire started by Al Davis in 1960. But most unlikely of all, when the GOAT is accused of a scandal, the NFL - the entity that spent tens of millions of dollars to try (and fail) to "prove" he's a cheater - would be the first ones to come to his defense. Yet here we are. 

As Reags mentioned, Brady met with Matthew Stafford at a ski resort:

And him being Tom Brady, caused much of the world to default right to its factory setting of calling him a cheater who cheats. Or in this case, a tamperer who tampers. Because old habits die hard:

That's just a small sample off a single comments thread. But you get the picture. Add to it the fact Brady is Fox's No. 1 football analyst, and upsets were happening, hands were wringing, and fainting couches were being flopped on from coast to coast. But before this tropical storm could be upgraded to a hurricane, the National Football League of all people, jumped to his defense:

I have to admit that more than anyone, I wanted to see Brady go full WWE Heel in the wake of his wrongful conviction in 2016. Every time he won a game, or was handed a Lombardi Trophy on a riser at the Super Bowl, I was dying for him to go scorched earth on the people who wronged him. And I cursed his The Four Agreements-style positivity and all the miles he chose to travel on the dreaded high road. 

But they say the best revenge is a life well lived. Which he has done. He's won hearts and minds across an organization so heartless and mindless that they fought to destroy the very person who represented them with grace and dignity. And now they're crawling to him on their lousy, stinking knees and groveling at his feet. And in that way, he's proving he's the GOAT of revenge, too.