Tom Brady is receiving backlash online after he made a puzzling comparison during the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears game.
While commentating on the Sunday, September 21, game on Fox Sports, Brady, 48, made a confusing remark after Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens was shown slamming his helmet down on the ground following the loss.
“And Picks is not happy, yeah, those moments can be … like the dog at home,” Brady said. “Kick the dog, throw the helmet, whatever it takes.”
Brady’s cohost, Kevin Burkhardt, did not react to the former Super Bowl champion’s remark. It didn’t take long, however, for social media users to question what Brady actually meant by his comment.
“Tom Brady comparing a player slamming his helmet in anger to kicking your dog at home isn’t the color commentary I was expecting,” one user wrote via X on Sunday
At the same time, another person questioned, “Did I just hear Tom Brady say something about Pickens slamming his helmet is better than going home and kicking your dog??”
Kicking the dog can also be a figurative expression, like the idiom of kicking a dog when it’s down, which refers to taking advantage of someone’s misfortune or difficult circumstances.
Animal rights organization PETA also reacted to Brady’s comments in a statement to TMZ on Monday, September 22.
“PETA encourages Brady to remember that millions of people listen to him,” the nonprofit said, “that the language we use can encourage kindness or violence towards animals, and that we should never normalize taking our frustration out on a beloved companion.”
Brady has not publicly addressed the backlash. Us Weekly has reached out to representatives for Brady for comment.
Following Brady’s retirement from the NFLl, the athlete joined Fox Sports as a lead color commentator. In 2022, Brady reportedly signed a 10-year, $375 million contract. He made his broadcasting debut the following year. After earning mixed reviews from the public, Brady confessed there were things he needed to work on in the booth.
“Certainly a lot of fun,” he said in a September 2024 YouTube video. “Definitely things to clean up. It’s all a learning process, man.”
This is not the first time Brady has received backlash for things he said on air. During an October 2024 broadcast, Brady sparked controversy after calling Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen a “spaz,” which some deemed as an ableist slur.
“Sometimes he played like a spaz, like a grade-schooler on a sugar high, but now he’s controlled the chaos,” Brady said during the Fox broadcast of the Bills’ game against the Seattle Seahawks. “He’s like a storm coming into town, and you don’t want that storm coming into this town.”
