Given that Tom Brady served as an executive producer for his recent roast, he may be pleased with the success of the Netflix special. However, the former quarterback said he has some regrets.
“The bittersweet aspect is when you do something that you think is one way, and then all of a sudden you realize, ‘I wouldn’t do that again,’ ” Brady said, “because of the way that it affected actually the people that I care about the most in the world.”
In comments shared Tuesday on a podcast hosted by several ex-NFL players, Brady explained that while he didn’t mind being the target for a torrent of jabs from comedians and prominent figures from his years with the New England Patriots, he was concerned about how his children might have taken it.
“I loved when the jokes were about me. I thought they were so fun. I didn’t like the way that it affected my kids,” Brady said to hosts Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder on “The Pivot” podcast.
Advertisement
“It makes you in some ways a better parent going through it, because, again, sometimes you’re naive,” the seven-time Super Bowl winner added. “You don’t know or you get a little, like, ‘Oh, [expletive].’ When I signed up for that — I love when people are making fun of me. I always said when I was going through the Deflategate stuff in 2015, 2016, that I watched three things on TV. I watched Premier League soccer, golf and comedy shows because every time I turned on ‘SportsCenter’ it was like, ‘Are you [expletive] kidding me?’
“I just want to laugh,” he continued. “So I wanted to do the roast because [co-host and fellow executive producer of the special] Jeff Ross became someone I knew, but you don’t see the full picture all the time.”
In addition to making jokes about Brady’s looks, the Deflategate saga and other aspects of his 23-year NFL career, some of the roasters took aim at his personal life, particularly his divorce from model Gisele Bündchen. In one instance, comedian Nikki Glaser referred to reports that, following the divorce, Bündchen was linked to a jujitsu instructor.
Advertisement
“You have seven rings — well, eight, now that Gisele gave hers back,” Glaser said to Brady at the event. “The only thing dumber than saying yes to this roast was when you said, ‘Hey, babe, you should try jujitsu.’ ”
Glaser later said on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show (via the Hollywood Reporter) that she and other roasters agreed before the special to keep his children out of it. Brady has three children aged 11 to 16, including a son and a daughter with Bündchen and another son with actress Bridget Moynahan.
“We all collectively just decided not to involve his kids too much in anything,” Glaser told Stern, “because they didn’t ask for that. … We all just agreed, ‘Let’s not throw the kids under the bus.’ ”
At one point, Brady did leave his seat on the stage to admonish a roaster, but it was not related to his children. After Ross made a joke about Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s alleged 2019 visit to a massage parlor, Brady was heard telling the veteran comedian, “Don’t say that [expletive] again.” Ross later said that Brady was just “having fun” in that moment by feigning anger to playfully stick up for Kraft, whom the longtime New England star views as “like a father figure.”
Advertisement
The special was the most-watched TV program on Netflix last week and the second-most-watched title overall among its English-language offerings.
That’s good news for Brady the producer after he and Netflix agreed in 2022 on what the streaming platform described as “a multi-roast deal.” The event’s popularity should ensure a solid pool of candidates, even if the experience was mixed for Brady the father.
“It’s a good lesson for me as a parent,” he said on the podcast. “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. I do think for me — just outside of, let’s say, that — if we’re not laughing about things, we’re crying. We should have more fun.”
“What do we love? We love laughing in the locker room,” Brady added. “Let’s do more of that, and love each other and celebrate other people’s success.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGeBcHyUaGhtZ6Skum6u0ZqbsmWipK60wIynnK2enJ7Fbr7EoKmerKNiuKqw0mg%3D