When you’re balling with the boys, sharing jokes and unfiltered conversations in the locker room for 23 years, it tends to leave a mark on you. Even when you land a prominent broadcasting job after football, it’s hard to stay in character sometimes. That’s what happened to Tom Brady as the legendary quarterback turned Fox commentator called the Week 2 game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders – twice.
The first one came when Brady exclaimed “Oh sh*t” as he watched Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels’ elbow dislocation. The second came in the fourth quarter when Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott connected with CeeDee Lamb on a dime of a throw that Brady called an “absolute p*ss missile.”
Brady’s comments naturally went viral, prompting him to issue a public apology on his Ask Tom show for NFL on FOX, along with a promise to be better. But first, being the 7x Super Bowl champ he is, he explained what a “p*ss missile” actually is.
“When I was trying to throw p*ss missiles, I had to get all the things that mattered to throwing that thing hard, doing the right thing,” Brady said, answering a fan question. “So, first thing is great ground force production, transfer from my lower half, really a good hitch into my throw. Second thing was torque my body, rotate my shoulder to the target while keeping my hips closed. And three, keep a really relaxed arm so it ends up being a whip. When all three of those things align, a p*ss missile is what’s coming your way.
“I fully expect you to beep out those p*ss missiles. Okay, you can’t say that because that swear jar is getting way too full in my house. My kids are getting way too happy with me filling up that jar.”
Spoiler alert: the host of the show didn’t “beep out those p*ss missiles.” He also demanded to see “The Tom Brady swear jar,” and noted that it must be overflowing by now. To that, Brady agreed, and then offered his apology.
“Too many,” Brady said. “I’m actually kind of embarrassed. There’s a lot of grandmas at home that probably aren’t very happy with my mouth on Fox. I’m going to fix that. Sorry. I apologize.”
Now, when Tom Brady first swore on live TV in Week 2 in the face of Daniels’ injury, he did immediately try to course correct by adding, “Excuse me. I was not expecting to see that.” While a commentator is always supposed to keep their emotions in check, Brady’s exclamation had pretty much captured exactly what the fanbase felt watching their QB go down. The “Oh Sh*t” went viral, but many commended him for the honest and unfiltered take on air.
As for the “P*ss missile,” these are the throws Brady has made throughout his football career, creating iconic fourth-quarter comebacks and orchestrating scoring drives in the process. When he saw Dak throw that dime to Lamb, you could easily hear the excitement in Brady’s voice before the ball dropped right into Lamb’s arms and he got pushed out of bounds.
Regardless, when he next calls the Week 3 game between the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Chargers at Highmark Stadium this weekend, Tom Brady will have to keep a check on his mouth. For the grandmas watching at home, and for the swear jar that’s making his kids happy. We’ll find out if he does.
