Flag on the play! Comedian Paul Scheer claimed that Tom Brady threatened to sue him over a T-shirt that was offered as merchandise for his podcast, “Unspooled.”
“Tom Brady threatened legal action against me and the ‘Unspooled’ podcast,” the League star, 46, alleged in a video shared via Instagram on Wednesday, June 29. After he and his cohost Amy Nicholson watched the film Porco Rosso last month, the pair were discussing how director Hayao Miyazaki will “retire and then he comes out of retirement,” when Scheer compared him to the 44-year-old quarterback.
“So I said, ‘Miyazaki is the Tom Brady of the animation world,’” the Black Monday actor recalled, referring to Brady announcing a return to the NFL just six weeks after he retired from football in February. After the “Unspooled” episode aired in May, they began offering a t-shirt featuring a drawing of Brady, wearing Miyazaki’s signature tan suit and glasses and throwing a football, along with the phrase, “Miyazaki is the Tom Brady of the animation world,” in their online store.
However, shortly after fans were able to purchase the shirt, Scheer received a phone call informing him that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers player’s legal team had filed an injunction against them. “If we continue to sell this shirt, we will be sued,” he explained. “Apparently this motherf–ker has trademarked his own name. So you can’t sell anything with words ‘Tom Brady’ on it.”
Despite the threats, the “Unspooled” team was able to find a way to avoid legal action and the shirt in question now bears the phrase “Miyazaki is the Brady of the animation world.” It is currently available for purchase through Teepublic.
Us Weekly has reached out to Brady for comment.
Brady announced in early February that he was retiring from the NFL after 22 seasons, but just over one month later, he announced that he had changed his mind and wanted to continue playing. “These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” the TB12 cofounder wrote via Twitter in March. “That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business LFG.”
Though football fans were shocked by his sudden change of heart, Brady told Us exclusively earlier this month that his loved ones weren’t shocked by his return to the game. “I [was] probably the least surprised, because I love it,” he said about his family’s reaction to his decision to come out of retirement. “My wife’s probably not very surprised in the end either, but we’ve had a lot of time together and still have some more time coming up. She’s just amazing how she supports the family and our kids.”
Brady also praised wife Gisele Bündchen for making it possible for him to continue playing. “There’s so much that she’s put off in order to allow our kids to be nurtured and loved,” he said. (The couple share children Benjamin, 12, and Vivian 9, and Brady is also father to son Jack, 14, whom he shares with ex Bridget Moynahan.) “She just does an amazing job with our family. So without her, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love. She’s just an amazing partner.”
He continued: “[My family] is what allowed me to keep going. They allow me to get out there and go play and have fun and enjoy it. … And when I’m done playing, I’m done, there’s no going back.”