"You have no f***ing idea about football" - NFL fans react as Tom Brady urges USMNT to find Lamine Yamal-esque "phenom"

Tom Brady: America needs someone like Lamine Yamal on its soccer team - Getty/CMS
Tom Brady: America needs someone like Lamine Yamal on its soccer team - Getty/CMS

Tom Brady has become a soccer enthusiast after retiring from the gridiron. Two years ago, he bought a minority share in English club Birmingham City FC and oversaw its promotion to the Championship in the 2024-25 season. Now, he has words of wisdom for America's men's soccer team.

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Speaking last week on Men in Blazers, the legendary former quarterback said that the USMNT needed a generational "phenom" on par with the likes of FC Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal and a young Lionel Messi to foment a "cultural revolution" ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico:

“We love rooting for winners, we love rooting for the best of the best... You can’t imagine the fanfare when that happens. Every stadium will be sold out. The American audience loves it.”
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However, his comments drew mockery and negativity from the NFL fandom:

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"Someone explain to him that national teams and professional clubs are 2 different things," one instructed.
"Get tom brady out of football, go do something else," another demanded.
"Ain’t happening," one insisted.
"Actually embarrassing listening to this guy talk about football," another retched.

Even former three-time Defensive Player of the Year JJ Watt, who currently owns a minority stake in Burnley alongside his wife Kealia, took notice and offered some mockery of his own by referencing his alma mater:

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Tom Brady discusses parallels between gridiron football and soccer

Current and former NFL players becoming soccer club owners is becoming common, and Tom Brady and JJ Watt are not alone in that regard.

Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara are part of the Seattle Sounders' group, while his former teammate Marshawn Lynch is involved with the USL Championship's Oakland Roots. Patrick and Brittany Mahomes are investors in Sporting Kansas City and the Kansas City Current, while Derrick Henry is part of Nashville SC's group.

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For Brady, it is not hard to see why: despite their structural and tactical differences, gridiron and soccer share similarities. He said in the same episode:

“In American football, you try to get the ball down into the red zone — which, in soccer, you call the final third. And then, when you get there, you try to take advantage of your scoring opportunities, because it’s hard to get it down there, and it’s hard to keep it down there.
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“In terms of process, practice, training, recovery, the competitive level, and the desire to win every single day — those things are exactly the same.”

Tom Brady's involvement in Birmingham City FC is the subject of the docuseries Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues, which is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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Edited by Dipayan Moitra
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