Tom Brady Is Struggling To Find His Place In A Post-Football World

Has the world finally had enough of Tom Brady?

That’s what everyone seems to be asking after the Super Bowl, where the former quarterback was roasted for everything from his commentary to his watch. Combined with Netflix’s awkward “The Roast of Tom Brady” in 2024, many are wondering if he should just step away from the spotlight and focus on his family.

Just last month, Tom Brady kept mixing up names and had fans questioning how prepared he was for the broadcast. In January, the NFL star had joined Kevin Burkhardt to provide commentary for the NFC Wild Card game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers.

“[You have] three timeouts, so you’d have a couple plays. But I like this call by the Phillies… excuse me, by Philly,” Brady said, committing another gaffe a little later on when he referred to Packers running back Josh Jacobs as Brandon Jacobs, a retired NFL halfback who hasn’t played in years.

The social media backlash was swift, with one fan writing, “Maybe Brady’s not cut out for broadcasting. Another added, “TB is the GOAT, but he is brutal at this.” Another user poked fun at his $375 million salary with another chiming in, “They’re giving this man the GDP of Lithuania to do this.”

This isn’t the only time that his commentary has come under fire. Late last year, the former footballer forgot key details about the Green Bay Packers during their game against the Minnesota Vikings. “Two of them to the (Detroit) Lions – they’re a good team,” Brady said, per Talk Sport. “The (Philadelphia) Eagles, they lost to them. They’re a good team.”

Instead of admitting he couldn’t remember the names, he let an uncomfortable silence stretch on for far too long. “And they lost to the uh…” Brady said, asking, “Who’d they lose to, the other one?”

He tried to cover his tracks by switching gears and talking about the game itself, but fans couldn’t help but comment on the error online. Brady doesn’t seem to be fitting into his new hosting gig, which is made all the more awkward by the fact that his contract is set to last for 10 years, with around $37.5 million to be paid out annually.

After Kevin Hart made fun of him on “The Roast of Tom Brady,” the former NFL star took a moment to roast the comedian during his Super Bowl commentary. He turned to his Fox Sports co-commentator Kevin Burkhardt and asked, “Kevin Hart’s here?” before joking, “How do the cameras find Kevin Hart?” While Hart has heard frequent jokes about his height throughout the years, fans online called the “diss” both “cringy” and “groan-worthy.”

It’s possible that Brady still has hurt feelings from the roast, as he later admitted that he regretted participating at all. “The bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and then all of a sudden you realize, ‘I wouldn’t do that again,’ because of the way that affected actually the people that I care about the most in the world,” he said on “The Pivot” podcast.

“You just don’t see the full picture all the time,” he continued, noting the impact that the jokes had on his three children. “So I think it’s a good lesson for me as a parent. I’m going to be a better parent as I go forward because of it, and at the same time, I’m happy everyone who was there had a lot of fun.”

Tom Brady doesn’t have to appear on Netflix to get roasted online. In addition to fans calling out his Kevin Hart commentary, Brady also drew criticism for sporting a $740,000 watch that fans described as “ugly.” The gold Caviar Tourbillon watch, which was crafted by the renowned watch designer Jacob & Co, registered at nearly 49 carats and featured 338 brilliant-cut diamonds, according to the New York Post.

“How much does that ugly watch cost? Way too gaudy,” one user commented.

“That thing is an abomination. Terrible, terrible choice,” another netizen agreed while other users speculated that he used the “ugly” watch to draw attention away from the possibility that he might have gotten plastic surgery on his face.

Fans who didn’t like his fashion sense also didn’t like his commentary style. “I really don’t enjoy listening to Tom Brady as a commentator,” one user commented. “His flow is awkward, and he always makes it about his own experiences. Greg Olsen should’ve been the one doing the Super Bowl with Kevin Burkhardt.”

“Half of the commentary from Tom Brady is him talking about himself and his playing days,” another football fan expressed, adding, “Wish I could mute him.”

While it’s possible that he can get better over the span of his 10-year contract, it seems that the world might just have had enough of Tom Brady. Fans don’t like his fashion sense, they don’t like his hosting style, and they definitely don’t like the cryptic Instagram posts that he shared after his ex Gisele Bündchen gave birth to her third child with her boyfriend, Joaquim Valente. 

Although Tom Brady has dominated the sports industry for several years, maybe Bill Belichick said it best when, during “The Roast of Tom Brady,” he asserted, “Was it Brady, me, Brady, me? In reality, the truth of the matter is it was both of us – because of me.”