Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has leaned on sports figures for support at rallies on the campaign trail before, and he name-dropped two New England Patriots legends at an election eve stop in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Trump said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady called him to let him know he has voted for him, although there’s some dispute about the facts there. And Trump read what he said was a letter from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, which congratulated him for dealing with “slanted media.”

We’ll have to take Trump’s word that the Pats greats support his quest to become President of the United States, because neither was in attendance on Monday night.

At one point during the rally, according to many reporters on the scene, Trump read from a letter he said Belichick sent him.

“Congratulations on a tremendous campaign,” Trump said Belichick wrote in the letter, according to Katy Tur of NBC. “You have dealt with an unbelievable and slanted media and have come out beautifully. You’ve proven to be the ultimate fighter.”

Tur also reported that Trump said Brady voted for him and that Brady gave Trump his blessing to share that news with the New Hampshire crowd. Brady and Trump are known to be friends, though Brady has stopped short of endorsing Trump for president.

However, WEEI digital content specialist Scott McLaughlin tweeted that in an interview on the “Kirk & Callahan” show on Monday, Brady said he hadn’t voted yet. McLaughlin said early voting in Massachusetts ended last Friday. So there’s some miscommunication involved, or Trump or Brady is lying.

Then there was this, from Yahoo News’ Hunter Walker:

Either way, it would seem strange to vote for a presidential candidate just because a football coach or player endorses them. But Trump was happy to tell the New Hampshire crowd that Brady and Belichick were in his corner.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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