Tom Brady only transitioned from being an athlete to a sports commentator very recently, and he’s already managed to say something pretty controversial.
During the most recent episode of his podcast Let’s Go!, the recently retired NFL quarterback gave his review of Sunday’s Super Bowl Halftime Show headlined by Rihanna. In the process, the seven-time Super Bowl champion admitted that he’s missed a lot of halftime shows throughout his career since all of his focus was on the field.
Most notably, Brady mentioned missing the infamous 2004 halftime show, the one that featured Justin Timberlake exposing Janet Jackson’s bare breast on live TV. At the time, he was playing for the New England Patriots, whom he ultimately led to a victory over the Carolina Panthers.
“We came off the field, and that was when we had the wardrobe malfunction with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson,” Brady explained to his co-hosts. “[Journalists] were asking me about that, and I couldn’t even understand what they were telling me about. They were like, ‘Did you see the halftime show?’ and I said, ‘Nah, I didn’t see anything.’ I was thinking about the game and was trying to figure out halftime adjustments. It took a while for us to figure out what had gone on. That’s for the fans and not for the players.”
While Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction ended up with a ton of complaints from viewers and remains one of the most controversial moments in Super Bowl history, Brady said he thinks it may have actually helped the NFL.
“I think in the end, it was probably a good thing for the NFL because everyone got to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows,” the retired quarterback explained. “Is any publicity bad publicity? That’s what they say, so, who knows?”
Of course, Brady’s comments on the subject are pretty controversial, considering the fact that Janet Jackson experienced real-life consequences for the mishap. In response, fans on Twitter had a lot to say, dragging Brady for making light of something that was–and still is–serious for the singer.
Check out some of the responses down below: