Tom Brady has been making some massive moves since the start of 2022. Back in March, the decorated NFL quarterback chose to unretire from professional football after announcing the decision in January. He’s also set to star in a movie, in which he’ll appear alongside Hollywood royalty like Jane Fonda and Sally Field. And if that weren’t enough, Brady has also signed a TV deal with Fox Sports, which could put a massive chunk of change into his pocket. So what else could the 44-year-old athlete possibly do? Well, he could get his own comedy roast at Netflix, which could lead to something more for him.
That’s right, Tom Brady is set to be the first person to get comedically burned in a new series of comedy specials Netflix is referring to as Greatest Roasts of All Time or GROAT. Brady will be an executive producer on his own special and future ones. In a statement to Variety, the seven-time Super Bowl champion shared the perfect response to his new gig:
To quote my good friend, Marshawn Lynch … ‘I’m just here so I won’t get fined.’
According to the trade, the special is set to be filmed in 2023 following the upcoming NFL season. So the Tampa Bay Buccaneer will want to be sure he’s in the studio at that time so that he doesn’t get any kind of fine. Joining him as fellow EPs are Jeff Ross, Casey Patterson and Carol Donovan. Ross is far from a stranger to the world of celebrity roasts, having been a major fixture at roasts for Comedy Central, The Friar’s Club and more. Because of his sharp jabs, Ross has come to be known as “The Roast Master General.”
This will absolutely be a new challenge for Tom Brady, who faced off with some of the toughest competitors in the history of the NFL during his 22 seasons in the league. Yet Netflix’s vice president of stand-up and comedy formats, Robbie Praw, believes it’s his work on the gridiron that makes him fit for the task:
We can’t wait to burn three-time Super Bowl-losing quarterback Tom Brady, who only went back to the NFL in order to delay this roast. In all seriousness, it’s a huge thrill to work with the greatest football player of all time on this project. No one’s better at taking hits and still coming out on top, so we know the roast will be a breeze for Brady.
As of right now, the roster of roasters has yet to be announced, but I can already think of at least one potential candidate. Retired quarterback Peyton Manning would be absolutely perfect for the show. The two-time Super Bowl winner has impeccable comedic timing, as seen in his Saturday Night Live work. Manning also made a serious impression during Comedy Central’s Roast of Rob Lowe in 2016. (He was also the subject of some racy jokes that didn’t make the broadcast.) Few other athletes can match Manning’s wit, which he even employed when joking about the former New England Patriot’s decision to unretire from football.
We’ll see if Netflix manages to assemble a strong group of entertainers, who can throw quips at Tom Brady just as well as he throws touchdown passes. In the meantime, I'd expect the always-committed Brady to prep for the roast and his continuing EP duties as vigorously as he would anything else in his career.
Those looking forward to checking out Greatest Roasts of All Time will want to make sure that they have a Netflix subscription by the time it releases in 2023.
