Turns out Tom Brady might be a good sport after all.
The future Hall of Famer was subjected to a vicious drubbing during a Netflix roast on Sunday, and only appeared to raise his hackles once—when comedian Jeff Ross cracked wise about Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots owner.
Brady’s reaction? To get up from his seat, cross the stage, and audibly tell Ross: “Don’t say that shit again.”
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But, in a Monday appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, the “Roastmaster General” insisted that Brady took the joke in stride.
“Come on, come on, no way, no way,” Ross said. “He was having fun. You know, it’s like that’s his dad. Robert Kraft is like a father figure to him, he was just showing his love for Robert Kraft. And Robert Kraft loved it. We had a great talk afterwards. He was so happy that I gave him a shoutout and a salute. It was beautiful.”
The joke that appeared to rile Brady up referenced Kraft’s arrest in 2019 for soliciting prostitution in a Florida day spa. “Tom became a Patriot and moved up to New England, and on the first day of training camp, that scrawny rookie famously walked into the owner Robert Kraft’s office and said, ‘I’m the best decision your organization has ever made,’” Ross said, pausing for the audience to applaud before delivering the punchline: “‘Would you like a massage?’”
After Brady got up and confronted him, a visibly nervous Ross said into the microphone, “OK, OK. He’s having fun, look at him. I love what you do for the Jews, Robert Kraft. You’re incredible.”
Kraft was caught in a sting operation, one of at least 25 people arrested in a months-long human trafficking investigation that spanned China to Florida. Facing two misdemeanor counts of solicitation, Kraft pleaded not guilty, but did issue a public apology. In 2020, prosecutors dropped the charges against him.
“Tom loves the roast. He’s a student of the roasts,” Ross told Eisen. “If you love the roast… everyone wants to be the center of attention, even when there is a target on their back. It’s all about him for three hours.”
