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The Tom Brady Dilemma

The seven-time Super Bowl champion had social media ablaze after a bizarre weekend.
Jimmy Traina|
Tom Brady has made some interesting choices in his post-NFL career.
Tom Brady has made some interesting choices in his post-NFL career. | Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

1. This was Tom Brady’s weekend:

On Thursday, he dunked Gronk into some kind of sauce, which is just SO WACKY! (I refuse to post the video since it’s so stupid.)

Friday, he slapped Logan Paul.

Saturday, he tried to imitate The Undertaker rising out of a coffin.

Sunday, he gave Paul the middle finger while attending the World Cup final.

All of this stuff is cringeworthy and goofy, though ultimately harmless. Brady is allowed to have fun. But it’s also fair to wonder why on earth Brady would be doing all this stuff. He’s Tom Freakin’ Brady. He can be anywhere in the world. Do anything he wants. Buy anything he wants. Date anyone he wants. Hang out with his family. The possibilities are endless.

He chose to spend three days in a row at the Javits Center in New York City for Fantatics Fest. Only New Yorkers will understand this, but I can assure you, nobody should ever want to spend three days in a row at the Javits Center, but I digress.

I mentioned all this on social media and was stunned by the response. About 99% of people were ripping Brady for agreeing to do all this nonsense.

But here’s the rub.

It seems pretty clear that Tom Brady is going to have some sort of wrestling match with Logan Paul at some point. My guess would be WrestleMania because I would assume Brady has to do it after the NFL season.

You wouldn’t have known it based on this weekend, but, yes, Brady is still Fox’s lead NFL analyst.

So, while almost everyone is wondering why Brady would do this fake fighting thing with Paul, the truth is, if Brady wrestles, we will all watch.

Two things can be true at once. We can think it’s beneath Brady to do all this stuff and we will definitely tune in to see how the future Hall of Famer would do in a wrestling ring.

This is sort of how everything works these days. Negative publicity is better than positive publicity and if you can throw a trainwreck in the mix, voilà, you have the perfect formula for attention.

2. I’m a Justin Bieber fan, so I’m not coming at this from an anti-J.B. angle. This is just pure common sense.

If you’re going to perform at a sporting event, you can’t go with a ballad. It has to be an upbeat song. How is a crowd of 80,000 supposed to react to such a deep song? Keep it upbeat and light.

3. Am I crazy for thinking Orioles pitcher Brandon Young did this on purpose and it wasn’t just a fluke play?

4. Betting markets are usually right about these things, so don’t be surprised when LeBron ends up on the Heat.

5. Phillies right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. had a sunglasses issue on Sunday. Here’s the clip in real time and then in slo-mo. Mets analyst Keith Hernandez was just completely bewildered.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with former Around the Horn host Tony Reali.

Reali talks about his new podcast, Real Deal With Tony Reali, the concept behind the show and why he wants to relive certain moments in sports.

In addition, Reali talks about what the past year has been like for him since ATH’s cancellation, why he waited so long to take on a new gig, being taken aback by the lack of offers he received over the past year, how he views ESPN and the changing landscape of the sports media business.

Following Reali, Sal Licata from SNY TV and “The Sal Licata Show” joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discussed the Bryce Harper/FanDuel/Cameo scandal, whether batting average matters in baseball, ESPN’s Wimbledon coverage, the Jay-Z concert at Yankee Stadium that started three hours late, Benson Boone, The Bear, Shameless, a new season of Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring and more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Ever since Ali G showed up at Wimbledon earlier this month, I’ve had a heavy dose of his clips in my algorithm, which is a beautiful thing. This clip from his old HBO show is as good as it gets.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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