Tom Brady may be retired, but he clearly has not lost his fastball when it comes to trash talk. And for a New England audience that spent two decades watching him own every room he walked into, this latest moment felt very on brand.
During the inaugural Fanatics Flag Football Classic Draft on Wednesday, March 18, Brady took a playful but sharp shot at Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow while the teams were being introduced. Brady and Jalen Hurts are set to lead Founders FFC, while Burrow and Jayden Daniels will captain the Wildcats FFC. That setup gave Brady an opening, and he took it.
Brady joked that the “Wildcats” name fit Burrow pretty well after Burrow was recently seen leaving an Oscars weekend party with Alix Earle, Tate McRae and Stassie Karanikolaou. He followed that up with another dig about Burrow being present for the draft and not off at “fashion shows,” a nod to Burrow’s growing off-field celebrity profile and brand presence.
[According to People](https://people.com/tom-brady-trash-talks-joe-burrow-partying-alix-earle-tate-mcrae-11929792), Burrow mostly let the moment slide. He gave Brady a look, then eventually cracked a smile as the clip made the rounds on social media. It was classic Brady: part locker-room needling, part showmanship, and totally delivered with the confidence Pats fans know better than anybody.
What made the moment even juicier is Brady’s own connection to the story. People [reported](https://people.com/tom-brady-trash-talks-joe-burrow-partying-alix-earle-tate-mcrae-11929792) that Brady has been at the center of romance rumors involving Earle after the two were spotted together on New Year’s Eve in St. Barts. The outlet also reported in February that a source said Brady and Earle were “hooking up” after being seen together during Super Bowl weekend. Reps for Brady and Earle had not commented to People on the relationship.
So no, Brady is not lining up under center at Gillette anymore. But he is still doing what New England fans always loved most: reading the room faster than everyone else, landing the line, and somehow walking away with the last laugh.