POLL: America still loves Tom Brady but has lost some respect for him

The Patriots quarterback is still loved by most of America

Despite all of the negative press surrounding Deflategate, America still really likes New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, according to a recent poll.

SurveyMonkey polled a group of Americans and, even though Brady spent the past two seasons battling Roger Goodell in court over his four-game suspension and eventually losing, many people still love Brady.

The Patriots quarterback checked as the second-most talented athlete according to the poll (behind only Cavaliers forward LeBron James), and he tied for second with the "best brand" according to the poll, behind only James and tied with retired Lakers guard Kobe Bryant.

When asked what athlete they would like to trade lives with, Brady was the No. 1 answer given by respondents. No real surprise there, though. He's got four Super Bowl rings, has made millions of dollars and is still the second-wealthiest person in his house, behind his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen. He may live through those four games after all.

But here's where it gets interesting. Brady is also the No. 2 least-respected athlete, according to the people polled. The only man above him? Tiger Woods, who does not have a great Q score after a litany of problems at home and struggles on the course.

Right below Brady is Kobe, who also has a history of off-field issues. And then Floyd Mayweather -- again, off-field issues. LeBron rounds out the top five, which is, well, just kind of ridiculous. Brady and LeBron do not belong with that group of gentleman for least respect but make it because of Deflategate and The Decision, apparently.

Naturally, Brady is also No. 4 on the list of most-respected players. He is behind only LeBron (No. 3, of course), Phil Mickelson (No. 2, interesting) and Eli Manning (No. 1, whaaaaaaa?). That's right. The Giants quarterback, who toppled Brady in a pair of Super Bowls, is more respected than Brady.

The rest of the top 10 most-respected athletes are Kobe (5), Cam Newton and Roger Federer (6), Cristiano Ronaldo (8), Jordan Spieth (9) and Tiger (10). These guys can be called polarizing for a reason.

Brady is also the No. 4 most-overpaid athlete, which he can probably live with, even if Joe Flacco of the Ravens (No. 6) and Eli (No. 7) should probably be far ahead of him.

So the good news is Deflategate didn't really ding his reputation too much, even if it did manage to turn certain parts of the country against him. Such is the life of a dynastic quarterback.