Never Say Never- Tom Brady and Will Smith

There was speculation about if Tom Brady was going to come back almost immediately after he announced his retirement.?He lasted 40 days before he announced that he is coming back next year to play.?

Was he deceiving us??

If you watched closely, there were clues that he was at least uncertain and possibly being deceptive about his retirement.?What’s important about this as you study deception is that there are almost always clues.?We often don’t want to see them. They seem natural and we don’t always add them up in the moment.??Body language interpretation is your last line of defense.?

Let’s go over the course of events:

On Feb 1 there was a post on his business Instagram page that congratulated him on a great career.?Then it was quickly taken down.

The next day he posted on his Instagram that indeed he was retiring.

On Feb 7 he was on a podcast and said ‘I feel very good about my decision.?Then said ‘Never say never.’

On Feb 14 he went back on the same podcast and said ’All you can do it take it day by day’.

Then in early March he appeared on ?a radio show and sounded like someone who’d accomplished the mission of spending more time with his family when he said ‘I’ve done that for the last five weeks’

All the while the Buccaneers never put him on the retired list.?(There could have been salary cap reasons for this.)

So there have been clues.?Lots of clues.?Then we see the body language.?Check out his response as he’s asked if he’s done.

We see him clinch his lips and pull the corners of his mouth back- that says stress and fear.?Then he turns his head away as if he’s starting to say no.?He’s giving it all away in this quick 7 sec clip.

The next day he said he’d be coming back to the Buccaneers.

My read on this is that it’s more uncertainty than deception.?But he hinted to us all along what was going thru his mind and what was likely going to happen so we shouldn’t be surprised.?

And we can top that off with that he never had a retirement press conference.?I’ve never seen a decorated athlete at his level not have a goodbye press conference.

So always ask yourself—what are the clues around any situation.?They’ll likely point you to the truth. Knowing what people are going to do before they do it is an important skill You’ve just got to pay attention differently.

Side note:?We don’t know exactly why Tom came back. As a retired athlete myself I know the pain of retirement.?It’s a huge mental and emotional challenge to instantly redefine yourself.?The stresses of real life aren’t that much fun next to the known of training and competing.?I found this video that was pretty funny and likely explains part of his decision.

And here’s some late breaking news from the Oscars

You’ve seen it by now.?Will Smith walked on stage after Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair and slapped him.

As the joke begins, we see her flash pride with her chest out just a bit then it quickly changes.?Her eyes close.?That’s not wanting to see what’s happened. ?She lets out a big sigh-that can be disappointment or exasperation and at the same time the wrings her hands which can show anxiety or anger.?To top it off there’s the evil sideways glance.??She’s not a happy camper.

All this while Will laughs.?Then the camera cuts away.?We don’t see what happens between them before we see will on stage going for the slap.?This is the video that I really want to see.?

Body language tells you what’s on someone’s mind but doesn’t say why. Is he protecting her???Did she get on his case??Did he figure out he messed up and overcorrect to save himself??Until we see the video we’ll never know.

And where was security during all this??Was it a stunt??According to my Hollywood contacts, this was real.?And Will Smith isn’t going to get escorted out of anywhere. That’s just the way it goes.

No matter what happened resorting to violence is never the way to go.?My official analysis:?Thumbs down, Will Smith.??Thumbs. Down.

You'll Love my Podcast this month: I interview former KGB Spy Jack Barsky. He'll give us the inside scoop on how Russia really operates. In light of current events you'll find it fascinating.

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