Many Americans still insist (without proof) that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election. In the presence of the declared winner of that race, Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady poked fun at persistent election deniers .

“We have started,” Brady said during the team’s visit to the White House. “Not many people think we could have won. In fact, I think about 40 percent of people still don’t think we’ve won.

“I understand that,” added President Joe Biden.

But Brady had more scripted material.

“We had a game in Chicago where I forgot what it was,” he said. “I lost track of a down in 21 years of playing. And they started calling me Sleepy Tom. Why would they do this to me? (Trump regularly called Biden “Sleepy Joe” during the campaign.)

The 40% crack made people laugh (as expected), but at some level you can bet Brady’s motivational tactics for his teammates in 2021 will include telling them people don’t think they were the best. team last year, and that they did it doesn’t deserve to go to the Super Bowl or win it. This is the best way to get them to make the necessary commitment to return.