Max Kellerman has offered some pretty brutal takes throughout his career, which is par for the course in terms of sports radio and debate show hosts. But there may be no Kellerman hot take more infamous than his 2016 assessment of Tom Brady.
Thursday was the sixth anniversary of Kellerman’s declaration that Brady’s career was “just about done.” Social media wasn’t keen on letting the anniversary go unnoticed, and neither was the quarterback who Kellerman declared would soon “be a bum.”
“It could be his next game he plays,” Kellerman said to an absolutely stunned Stephen A. Smith on First Take in 2016. “It could be a year from now. But, he is going to fall off a cliff. Tom Brady is going to be a bum in short order.”
One year came and went and Brady was still an elite quarterback. Six years have now passed and Brady remains at an All-Pro level on the field, while Kellerman is no longer on First Take after Smith gave him the boot last summer. He now hosts afternoon show This Just In for ESPN.
As the hot take went viral again on its sixth anniversary, Brady quote-tweeted the video to remind Kellerman that not only has he continued adding Super Bowls to his resume, but he even has a swimwear line. If BRADY brand swimwear doesn’t prove the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback is far from being “a bum,” then nothing will.
It is interesting that Brady touted his recently launched swimwear line as being a bigger accomplishment than his three Super Bowl rings since Kellerman’s prediction. The order of importance has to make you wonder whether the soon-to-be 45-year-old quarterback is still all in after waffling over retirement a few months ago. Maybe the Bucs should sneak a homework clause into Brady’s contract to ensure this isn’t the season he takes it easy and falls off a cliff.
But if for some odd reason Brady does end up morphing into a bum on the football field, he has a $375 million contract with Fox on deck. That will give him the platform to make similarly egregious hot takes, if he chooses.