New England Patriots legend Tom Brady has come under fire from San Francisco 49ers fans after using the abbreviation “San Fran” in reference to the team.
The retired quarterback has been a divisive addition to the “NFL on FOX” team among viewers after being installed as its lead color commentator at the start of the new season. The seven-time Super Bowl victor previously signed a 10-year deal worth a reported $375 million to join the FOX network.
Now, the 47-year-old – who hails from the nearby community of San Mateo – has inspired anger among San Francisco residents after calling the city by a nickname that seemingly splits opinion in California. Otherwise known by the monikers “The City by the Bay”, “SF” and “Frisco”, Brady’s use of the term “San Fran” proved controversial during a recent broadcast.
The NFL great’s words during the 49ers’ clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers inspired one disgruntled fan to post on Twitter/X: “Brady is just not that interesting. It’s nicer to call him on some specific missteps, like San Fran. Frisco is less dumb than San Fran. Abbreviation is not a nickname. It’s lazy. These days we call folks by their full names. Tom Brady is not that gooda friends with The City.”
A second chimed in, asserting: “Tom Brady trying so hard and failing so completely. ‘San Fran’ says the wanna-be broadcaster from San Mateo,” while a third did not hold back as they said: “Tom Brady as a broadcaster should disqualify his chance to get inducted in the Hall of Fame. Stop calling it San Fran.”
A fourth commenter also revealed their disapproval of Brady’s apparent faux pas, saying: “Petition to ban Tom Brady from saying San Fran,” as another detractor then added: “Brady just gonna keep calling us ‘San Fran’ like the rest of the awful NFL broadcasters. He’s fitting right in.”
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This is not the first time that the former Patriots hero has come in for criticism for his performances on the mic, with Bill Simmons revealing he has been underwhelmed by FOX’s new recruit. Speaking on his podcast after the Lions-Vikings game, he said: “I thought Brady was just bad today. He just doesnt tell me enough.
“I think hes being poorly produced, is where Ive landed. Because I think whatever theyre telling him to do, its not working. I dont feel like Im watching the game with him. He comes in in the beginning, hes got this fake energy none of it feels genuine to me.”
He added: “I really think they need to hit the reset button, clear the cache, start over, and just be like, ‘We overloaded you with too much stuff. Get back to the basics. Just watch the game with (Kevin) Burkhardt, tell us what you see, come into the game with five, six things that you know you want to hit’.”
Likewise, Skip Bayless recently said on his eponymous podcast: “As I have said 12 trillion times, Tom Brady was the greatest NFL player ever by far. But as a TV analyst, hes nothing but Daniel Jones. Im sorry, but Tom Brady drove me nuts yesterday during the Detroit-Green Bay game with his endless, giddy, captain-obvious blabber.”