Tom Brady, a Boston charity, and that wrecked Audi S8

The papers were filled with photos and stories when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wrecked his Audi S8 last week (click here for a representative sample). Except it turns out that it wasn’t Brady’s Audi. The car was a loaner provided by the Boston office of the Kennedy-family charity, Best Buddies International, which has loaned the 72-million-dollar-man a new S8 in each of the last three years, presumably out of gratitude for Brady’s volunteer activities for the charity. Nice volunteer work if you can get, though it certainly stretches the concept of “charity” and “voluntarism” beyond recognition. Other Patriots players have received Audi loaners for their support for the charity, too, all of which raises the question whether those dollars might better be spent for the benefit of those whom the charity was created to help out.