"Tom Brady endorses Donald Trump," the headlines read.

But that was news to those who were in the Patriots locker room and heard how Brady responded when asked if Trump had "what it takes" on the night of the Republican debates two weeks ago.

"I hope so," Brady said. "It would be great. He'd have a putting green on the White House lawn. I'm sure of that."

On WEEI, in an interview with John Dennis, Gerry Callahan and Kirk Minihane on Monday, Brady was asked about those remarks and whether it's moments like those that make him wary of what he says in public.

"It’s just a different world than when I started in professional football," Brady said. "Even an off-handed comment like that, like you said, that people may run with. And I understand why people do run with it because you get the clicks and that type of stuff. It’s just people doing their job. A comment like that, I try to have fun with certain things."

Brady continued: "Some things a lot of times get taken out of context and so I think you are just more careful with what you say because you don’t want certainly a big headline with you as saying something that is going to take the attention away from your teammates and what you’re trying to do. I think that’s always a pretty selfish thing that maybe individuals do in team sports is when it’s about them, their comment, their dance or their opinion on something. And everyone is just trying to accomplish the same thing."

Given the limelight under which Brady lives his life, he's come to realize that sometimes it's better to say nothing at all then to say what's on his mind. It's hard to tell exactly how a comment will be interpreted.

"When you’re speaking publicly, you have a lot of people listening and I think it’s probably in everyone’s best interest, in today’s day and age, to say as little as possible," he explained. "I think that’s just the way it is and the way our culture is right now. Because everything is really out there and that’s just the way it is."

Brady was then asked if he would vote for Trump.

"I mean, look, I’ve known him for a long time," Brady said. "He’s been a fun guy that I’ve had a lot of time around. The fact that he’s running has obviously led to a lot of stories and debates and ratings were huge for all those Republican debates and so forth.

"One way or another, it’s so far away from when the election will be. Whatever I vote is going to be my own personal choice based on how I feel. I don’t even know what the issues are. I haven’t paid attention to politics in a long time. It’s actually not something that I really even enjoy. It’s way off my radar."