Last Updated Nov 14th, 2019 at 2:51 pm

Kyle Kusz, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, recently published a book chapter titled “Making American White Men Great Again: Tom Brady, Donald Trump, and the Allure of White Male Omnipotence in Post-Obama America.” In it he argues that the superstar quarterback became popular because of a rise in “white rage and white supremacy” that he believes has developed since the Obama presidency because of a “disturbing racial reaction among white conservatives in response to the idea that a black man would be [president].”

The professor told Campus Reform that he was compelled to investigate a possible link between Tom Brady’s fame and white supremacy after seeing this 2015 Under Armour commercial, which Kusz says “would not seem out of place in Leni Reifenstahl’s infamous Nazi propaganda film, ‘Triumph des willens’”:

Kusz also slammed a Beautyrest mattress commercial in which Brady stars because the camera angle is pointed upward at the quarterback so that the “viewer is compelled to see him as superior.”

The professor went on to argue that fans who backed Brady during the infamous “Deflategate” scandal were angry with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for “breaking the unspoken bonds of white brotherhood to leverage the NFL’s institutional authority” against the quarterback.

“In short,” Kusz says, “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 public 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.”

More on this story from Campus Reform here.

? Tom Brady, who many consider to be the greatest quarterback of all time, is a six-time Super Bowl champion, four-time Super Bowl MVP, three-time NFL MVP, and 14-time Pro Bowl pick. He is known for his tireless work ethic and fierce commitment to discipline.

The 42-year-old quarterback recently signed a two-year, $70 million contract extension with the New England Patriots.