University of Rhode Island’s professor Kyle Kusz published a book titled “Making American White Men Great Again: Tom Brady, Donald Trump and the Allure of White Omnipotence in Post-Obama America” in which he claims the popularity of Tom Brady is due to white supremacy.
In this book he touches on his belief that Tom Brady, Patriots NFL quarterback, became popular because of a surge of “white rage and white supremacy.” One of the reasons for this: an Under Armour ad.
In fall of 2015 Brady did an ad with Under Armour which shows thousands of Brady’s working out and telling the audience “Rule Yourself.” Kusz says the commercial “would not seem out of place in Leni Reifenstahl’s infamous Nazi propaganda film, ‘Triumph des willens.’”
The 30 second commercial is available here.
This harmless ad prompted the professor to consider Brady’s popularity as an effect of white supremacy and rage. Kusz wrote:
“I decided to research Trump and Brady’s public performances of their white masculinities and how they connect with broader debates about race and gender politics after a student in one of my classes brought the Under Armour commercial to my attention and it piqued my interest.”
Kusz also attributes Brady’s friends as a symbol of white supremacy, arguing that bringing mostly white teammates to the Kentucky Derby “tells a more particular story about the racial company he chooses to keep.”
“It is a vision of Brady as a wealthy, white man who unapologetically enjoys, and has even made a habit out of, spending time with other wealthy white men who treasure time ‘with the boys’ over all others.”
The professor added that attending the Derby, “suggests his performance of white masculinity shares much in common with President Trump’s” because most at the event include rich white people.
“In short, Brady is positioned as the master of his own fate. His white masculinity is represented as deserving of public veneration not only for his success and self-discipline, but because he enjoys it all without apology or any trace of shame or guilt. In other words, part of Brady’s pub- lic appeal rests in his ability to signify a guilt-free, omnipotent white male who unabashedly embraces the idyllic life that his wealth and white manliness provide.”
Kusz also uses Brady’s failure to disavow Trump as cold, hard evidence of how his “white masculinity is repeatedly constructed.”
Tom Brady’s success and popularity must not be attributed to six Super Bowls, three MVP awards, three All-Pro and fourteen Pro-Bowl selections, no, couldn’t possibly be! No, his success is definitely because of white supremacy, that’s it.
(Editor’s Note: to read more about the professor’s claims click here)
