Tom Brady may come up in every NFL GOAT conversation, but the legendary quarterback sparked criticism after labeling an upcoming flag football event in Saudi Arabia as "real football."

The seven-time Super Bowl winner is leading a delegation featuring Christian McCaffrey, Tyreek Hill, Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, and Myles Garrett, which will be hosting a flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia on March 21.

“Honestly, this is, like, real football,” Brady recently said in an appearance on the Impaulsive podcast. “This is real competition.”

For those who don't know, flag football is a non-contact version of American football. In this version, players stop playing by pulling a flag from the ball carrier instead of tackling them to the ground. It's usually 5-on-5 and is also played on a smaller field.

However, the fans did not like Tom Brady comparing the two. "Of course Brady is used to flag football. Anytime anyone came near him, the refs threw a flag, so obviously, he thinks it is real," teased the fan.

However, Tom Brady did compare flag football to the NFL, but he said that when he was arguing with WWE star Logan Paul over his fitness. "I’m glad you’re finally gonna participate in, like, a competition that matters," Brady told Logan Paul.

However, NFL fans seem to have caught on to the real football line.

NFL Fans Rain Down on Tom Brady

Many have called the GOAT a "sellout" for saying these things. "Saudis are investing insane money in sports. Today, they have a $20M horse race. The biggest purse in US history is $7M I'm sure Brady is well compensated for this," a comment read.

This might stem from the fact that the event will be at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s organized as part of Riyadh Season, a major entertainment and sports festival in the kingdom.

"Flag can never be real football - real competition yes! No trenches involved," a comment read. They want to point out that there is no tackling in flag football as there is in the NFL. Hence, reducing the risk factor.

One fan even brought Spygate into the conversation. "Flag football and touch football are great games, and competitions. But "real football?" Spygate's as bad at pimping events as he is a football tv analyst," they commented.

Spygate was a 2007 NFL controversy in which the New England Patriots were disciplined for videotaping an opponent’s coaching signals from an unauthorized location.

However, the league never mentioned Tom Brady. Rather, it was Patriots coach Bill Belichick who got fined $500,000.

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Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi