Tom Brady Super Bowl Commercial Exposes Real Reason He’s Playing for Tampa

In a hilarious new T-Mobile ad for the 2021 Super Bowl, Tom Brady exposes the real reason he’s playing for Tampa Bay. Brady’s current Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and former New England Patriots — teammate Rob Gronkowski also appears in the ad, and is at the center of a fictional misunderstanding that led Brady to the Sunshine State. The commercial begins with “Gronk” taking a call from Brady while out on the golf course, enjoying his retirement. From a weight room, Brady tells his friends that he’s considering quitting football, so Gronkowski gives him some advice.

“I got one word for you: retirement,” he tells the quarterback. “If you retire now, you’re gonna be walking on soft sand in a week. Just come to Florida and feel the wind in your hair. Retirement is like winning another one. Maybe I’ll even join you.” However, while this is what Gronkowski said, it is not what Brady heard. Due to not having the T-Mobile network, Brady heard a lot of static and breakup on the line, so it came across to him as: “If you retire now … you’re soft and weak. Just come to Florida and win another one. Maybe I’ll even join you.”

After Brady ponders the misinterpreted words of his old teammate, the ad cuts to a press conference wherein Brady makes his big Tampa Bay announcement and revealed that Gronkowski is coming along as well. Surprised to hear this, the tight end whispers, “I’m retired from retirement?” and yells for his mom to help him find his “football pants.” The ad ends with a message from T-Mobile that a better network would have kept all of this from happening.

Brady and Gronkowski played together for 10 seasons with the New England Patriots before Gronkowski retired. The pair won three Super Bowls together there tacked on another Sunday night when the Bucs beat the Kansas City Chiefs, which fans could watch for free here. While Gronk only has four rings, Brady has a total of seven.

Gronkowski was praising his retirement as recently as one year ago, telling Complex in January 2020 that he was “very firm” in his “decision” to retire. “Many people asked me that throughout the season, even when the beginning of the playoffs started. They’re like, ‘Rob, does it feel weird?’ I’m like, ‘No, man.’ I’m very satisfied with my decision that I made of where I’m at, and it feels good. It’s cool,” he added. “I love the game of football. Actually, you know something? I turned into a fan of football, man, especially the playoffs.”