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Even when Tom Brady isn’t directly making the news, he still makes the news.
Free Agency Day 2 of 2022 included two Brady stories. One came from his father, suggesting that media reports of impending retirement forced Brady to do so. And the other came about because the Westgate SuperBook executive wants the NFL to investigate whether insider information about Brady’s return led to a drastic betting big on the Pirates to advance to and win the Super Bowl just three days before Brady’s announcement. his return.
But if you could get insider information, shouldn’t betting shops have it? Remember when the sportsbooks took all Packers bets off the board last July, sparking rumors that quarterback Aaron Rodgers would retire? Someone who would take these bets sniffed out this possibility before anyone even started making them.
As for Brady, it didn’t take inside information to wonder if Brady had really retired. He himself began talking about retirement six days after announcing his intention to leave. As time went on, Brady said more and more things that suggested that he would return. Two weeks ago, we reported that the Dolphins were planning to prosecute both him and former Saints coach Sean Payton before Brian Flores’ lawsuit was filed. It certainly didn’t happen without Brady getting wind of it and/or wanting it on some level.
By last week, Westgate should have taken the Buccaneers, and maybe the 49ers, off the board. On the same day Westgate bets were made, BetMGM reported that San Francisco was a hugely popular pick to win the NFC Championship. Were these bets solely and exclusively from people who thought Trey Lance would take the Niners to the top of the conference mountain in his first year as a rookie after barely playing as a rookie?
In addition, Westgate will not know for several months whether bets placed on the Buccaneers will lose. Westgate could win them. Westgate will certainly win over many others along the way. Something to win, something to lose. Sportsbooks win more than they lose over time.
Brady’s story is important because for the first time it became possible that the bookmaker’s office was burned down by someone other than the bookmaker who knew what was really going on. Or perhaps because the bookmaker in question was too stupid to see the handwriting on the wall, or, depending on the case, it could be an REDRAM in the mirror.
Be that as it may, everyone knew that play and lack of work made Tom a boring boy, and that it was only a matter of time before he pulled out an ax at the door, stuck his face in the hole and shouted: “There’s Tommy!”