Tom Brady left the NFL several years ago. But even now, three years later, he seems to make headlines just as often as he did as a player. He does have his hand in quite a few pies after all.
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And one of the things Brady is hawking these days is flag football. He’s going to Saudi Arabia to stage a flag football tournament on March 21. And despite the location and the fact this is an offseason whimsy for NFL players, Brady insists this is ‘real competition’ and not some publicity stunt.
With the tournament right around the corner, marketer-Brady is doing the press rounds. That included an appearance on the Logan Paul’s podcast, Impaulsive. Paul has been involved with WWE for a few years. And in the spirit of trash talk, Brady and he got into during the segment, the NFL legend took shots not only at Paul, but at WWE and wrestling as a whole.
“No, you’re not the level. You’re a good athlete but honestly when I’m thinking of Saquon Barkley and I’m thinking of Odell Beckham,” Brady said when comparing Paul’s athleticism to that of top NFL players. “It’s cute, I love WWE, it’s very cute, but this is real football, real competition … Let’s see if you can bring it.”
The argument stemmed from Paul talking about potentially getting into professional flag football himself. Their feud has continued in a fashion that surely has many rolling their eyes right out of their head.
But perhaps not unexpectedly, Paul was not the only pro wrestler (or pro wrestler adjacent) that didn’t appreciate the sport being called “cute”. Brady’s WWE comments drew the ire of several stars of the sport.
“What’s Tom Brady done? He’s thrown a football across a field that was caught by Gronkowski.” said WWE promoter Paul Heyman. “Gronkowski deserves the credit. Belichick and his girlfriend deserve the credit. But Tom Brady?”
Scottish wrestler Drew McIntyre said he’s not bothered, calling Brady “ignorant”. Canadian wrestler Tyler Breeze challenged Brady to enter the WWE wrestling ring and, “see how cute he actually thinks it is.” The hulking Oba Femi probably had the most intimidating reaction.
“Those who think it’s cute and it’s fluffy and it’s sweet and stuff, you can come and try and lace up some boots. Then, let’s watch you puke,” challenged Nigerian wrestler Oba Femi.
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No doubt a retraction or apology or clarification will be coming out from Brady’s team soon as he looks to keep this media attention going heading into his tourney in Saudi Arabia.
Brady has seemingly been able to acquire the services of a few big-time current and formers NFLers that are expected to participate. Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, Christian McCaffrey, Sauce Gardner, Myles Garrett, Brock Bowers, Maxx Crosby, Tyreek Hill, Odell Beckham Jr., and Rob Gronkowski are among the names.
