The seven-time Super Bowl winner has caused controversy in his new role as an NFL commentator
NFL legend Tom Brady has caused controversy in his new role as a commentator after using an offensive slur.
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The seven-time Super Bowl winner is widely regarded as the greatest NFL player of all time after a 22-year career as a quarterback with the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In addition to his seven Super Bowl rings, he also won 10 conference championships and was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player three times.
Brady retired in 2022 at the age of 45, having set all-time NFL records for the most wins by a quarterback, the most passing touchdowns in the league’s history and the most passing yards.
At the start of the 2024 season, he transitioned into a new role as a colour commentator for Fox Sports’ coverage of the NFL, working alongside play-by-play commentator Kevin Burkhardt after signing a 10-year, $375m contract with the American broadcast giant.
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But Brady hasn’t found life in the commentary booth as easy as playing quarterback in the NFL. The 47-year-old drew criticism in the early weeks of the season for his style of analysis and he has now caused a stir after using an offensive term when describing the play of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Brady was commentating on the Bills’ game against the Seattle Seahawks on 27 October. In an effort to analyse Allen’s playing style, the retired icon used the word ‘sp*z’, a shortened version of the slur ‘sp*stic’, which derives from the medical term ‘spasticity’ – defined as involuntary muscle tightening caused by damage to the brain or spinal cord injuries/illnesses.
“Sometimes he played like a sp*z, like a grade-schooler on a sugar high, but now he’s controlled the chaos. He’s like a storm coming into town and you don’t want that storm coming into this town,” Brady said.
The word has been adopted into slang as a way of describing someone who is clumsy or uncoordinated. The term is considered offensive and derogatory due to its use against people with disabilities.