Tom Brady, who retired from the NFL after 23 seasons as the GOAT, didn’t have the strongest arm or the natural athletic gifts. He wasn’t known for his speed or flash. What set him apart was his work ethic, grit, and football intelligence. His success was built on effort and sacrifice. So, if anyone can sense when someone isn’t putting in the work, it’s Brady.
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That’s why, when he picked up on those vibes from then-Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney, he didn’t hold back. Brady openly questioned Rooney’s commitment and work ethic during the former England striker’s tenure at the soccer club co-owned by the NFL legend.
In the new documentary, Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues, directed by Gotham Chopra, behind-the-scenes footage captures TB12 expressing his concerns without filters.
“I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic. I mean, I don’t know, I don’t have great instincts on that,” Brady said in the footage from the 2023-24 season when Birmingham was competing in the EFL Championship, English soccer’s second tier.
Many fans weren’t happy with the seven-time Super Bowl champion disrespecting an English soccer icon like Rooney. They accused Brady of showing zero class. But Brady didn’t stop there. He also questioned the work ethic of some Birmingham City players, calling them “lazy and entitled.”
The board fired Rooney just 83 days into his tenure after Birmingham managed only two wins in 15 matches. They plummeted from sixth to 20th during his time in charge, while the year ended with the club getting relegated to EFL League One (third-tier competition).
Amid the backlash, the host of the Men In Blazers podcast asked Brady to clarify his remarks and the lessons he learned from hiring Rooney. The three-time NFL MVP didn’t shy away from taking responsibility for hiring Rooney in the first place.
“Our first season was a bit of a challenge, and I think we have to take ownership of every decision that was made. We made the decision at the time, but we learned from it and we moved on,” said Brady.
“Every year, you’re continuing to learn, and usually when you make decisions, you always feel like you are making the right decisions. I think it’s really important in the decision-making process when you realize, okay, we need to make a change based on production. We did it. Unfortunately, we got relegated in our first year,” he added.
Brady admitted that while hiring Rooney, he and the club’s leadership, including Tom Wagner, believed they were making the right call. But it backfired. Still, Brady said it taught them a valuable lesson.
That lesson came at a steep price: Relegation. Fortunately, the club bounced back immediately under new manager Chris Davies, earning promotion back to the Championship within a year.
Brady spoke highly of the decision to hire Davies, calling it a reflection of the values and long-term vision he and Wagner have for Birmingham City. Unlike the Rooney hiring, Brady said they didn’t make this one on a whim.
They thoroughly vetted Davies before handing him the reins. So far, that decision has paid off, and as Birmingham prepares for its return to the Championship, Brady and the ownership group have high expectations for a manager they believe has been “phenomenal.”
Birmingham City will kick off their new campaign on August 8 with two clear goals: Avoid another relegation scare, and push for promotion to the Premier League. The club hasn’t featured in the top flight of English soccer since the 2010-11 season.
Speaking of promotion and relegation, the system isn’t unique to just a few leagues; it’s the norm across most of the sporting world. However, it remains completely foreign to the United States.
So, when Brady saw the club he invested in suffer relegation, it must have been a jarring experience, especially for someone coming from the NFL, where such a scenario is unimaginable.
In American sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL, no matter how poorly a team performs, there’s no threat of being dropped to a lower division. That kind of safety net simply doesn’t exist in soccer. But the real question is: Should the system be in place in American sports?
Brady loves the idea of relegation for American sports
With so much money on the line in American sports, the idea of relegation and promotion seems almost inconceivable. However, after experiencing the system firsthand in English soccer, Brady has grown to appreciate it.
The Patriots legend believes relegation brings a unique sense of accountability and meritocracy, something he feels American sports could benefit from. However, he admitted that implementing it would be incredibly difficult.
According to Brady, a system where teams must earn their place at the top would incentivize players, coaches, and organizations to consistently perform at a high level. There’s a tangible reward for success and a real consequence for failure, which drives competitiveness.
“It would be very different in America, and not saying it couldn’t work. I actually love the relegation system in football. I think it creates great accountability for the clubs,” said Brady.
But the challenges of introducing relegation in leagues like the NFL are significant. For starters, there simply aren’t enough teams to support a tiered system.
Moreover, unlike many European soccer clubs that emerged from grassroots efforts and carry rich, historic identities, American teams are franchises. These franchises are owned entities that can be relocated at the owner’s discretion, as seen with teams like the Rams and Raiders.
The NFL also operates on a revenue-sharing model and enforces salary caps to maintain competitive balance and ensure financial stability across all franchises. Introducing relegation could disrupt that balance and drastically reduce the value of lower-tier teams, potentially making them financially unsustainable.
