Tom Brady: The Janet Jackson-Super Bowl controversy was good for the NFL

June 15, 2024

Tom Brady is still talking. He has a podcast called Let’s Go!, with his buddies Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray. In a recent episode, Brady talked about the 2004 Super Bowl, which he played (and won). That was the infamous Super Bowl where Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake performed during the Halftime show, and Timberlake ripped Janet’s costume and revealed her boob. Les Moonves basically took out a fatwa against Janet and her career suffered for years and years (all while Timberlake was simply allowed to move on). There were congressional hearings and Fox News went apesh-t for months about it. But according to Brady, that whole episode was good for the NFL long-term.

During a recent episode of his Let’s Go! podcast, Brady offered an eye-opening take on the Janet Jackson controversy, suggesting it was actually good thing for the NFL due to the increased publicity surrounding the Super Bowl halftime show. Via the New York Post, Brady admitted that he and the rest of his teammates were too focused on the Patriots’ Super Bowl clash vs. the Panthers to watch the halftime show, so they were unaware of what had transpired on the field during the intermission.

“They were asking me about that, and I couldn’t even understand what they were telling me about,” Brady said. “They were like, ‘Did you see the halftime show?’ and I said, ‘Nah, I didn’t see anything.’ I was thinking about the game and was trying to figure out halftime adjustments.”

While New England and Carolina reviewed their first half and made some halftime adjustments, Jackson and Timberlake were making controversy on the field. The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show took place at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX, and while everyone will remember the Patriots hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, it was Jackson’s halftime show that left the most headlines—and controversy—in its wake.

“I think, in the end, it was probably a good thing for the NFL because everyone got to talk about it, and it was just more publicity and more publicity for halftime shows,” Brady said.

In hindsight, Brady thinks the ordeal ended up benefitting the NFL. Halftime shows generate plenty of fanfare, and as the 45-year-old mentioned, the publicity the league gained, whether positive or negative, was impactful in the grand scheme of things.

[From Sports Illustrated]

I’ve seen people criticizing Brady for saying this and kind of breezing over the fact that several very powerful white men spent years trying to destroy a Black woman. That’s true. But the sickest sh-t is, Brady is right. The controversy was good for the NFL and good for the Super Bowl. It made people pay much more attention to the Halftime show, long-term, it got even more people to watch because they didn’t want to miss another iconic moment. They tried to destroy Janet over something which benefited them long-term.

Meanwhile, Tom adopted two kittens… I think his daughter wanted them. He did get them from a local rescue! I would kind of love it if Tom became a cat lady in retirement.

Tom Brady is now a cat owner … TMZ Sports has learned he's adopted two Siamese mix kittens in retirement. https://t.co/Wedt7dDjoW

— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) February 15, 2023

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.

Cambridge, MA – Tom Brady plays football with his sons John and Benjamin at the Harvard University Best Buddies event. Tom caught a pass for a touchdown from fellow Patriot Julian Edelman. Michael Chiklis played football too. Tom was very affectionate with his kids on the field. Brady was once again the star of the weekend, raising a lot of money for Best Buddies during his downtime with a new football season just around the corner. Pictured: Tom Brady BACKGRID USA 31 MAY 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*

Monaco, MONACO – **FILE PHOTOS** Like many public spaces across the country, parks in Tampa, Florida, are closed to visitors because of restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus. That didn’t prevent one man from trying to get an outdoor workout recently. The scofflaw was none other than new Tampa resident Tom Brady, according to Mayor Jane Castor. And, yes, the superstar quarterback was sighted (not cited), she said. Park staff came across Brady while patrolling a downtown park, Castor said Monday during a joint news briefing with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. “I got to tell you this story, too. Now, I always tell people, I’m not one to gossip so you didn’t hear this from me,” Castor said. “Our parks are closed down; and so a lot of our parks staff they patrol around just to make sure that people aren’t doing contact sports and things like that, and saw an individual working out in one of our downtown parks,” Castor said. “And she went over to tell him that it was closed and it was Tom Brady.” Pictured here during a Tag Heuer event during the 76th Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix **SHOT ON 05/26/2018** Pictured: Tom Brady BACKGRID USA 21 APRIL 2020 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*

Munich, GERMANY – Quarterback Tom Brady and the rest of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers battle the Seattle Seahawks at Allianz Arena in Munich. Pictured: Tom Brady BACKGRID USA 13 NOVEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*

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