Next "Last Dance" Documentary will be about Tom Brady ?
"The Man in the Arena: Tom Brady" will chronicle Tom's 9 Super Bowls. Supposed to be released next year and consist of 9 episodes.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29205694/tom-brady-tells-super-bowl-story-espn-series
Sorry to say, it won't be nearly as interesting. MJ had and has such a mystique. TB is greatness for sure but just not as compelling a figure, even with the Belicik drama.
Ok then, I will be happy with more Giselle!!!
Meh. I’m Team Bridget.
I don't know, it might be better. Brady's Super Bowl wins are spread over a much longer timeframe (with a number of disappointments mixed in) while Jordan from '91 on won the NBA title every full season he played in Chicago. The Last Dance had to manufacture a lot of suspense.
We know how the story ends in both cases. They wouldn have to manufacture just as much or more for Brady as they did for Michael.
As OP stated, Brady doesn't carry the same mystique Michael does. Jordan is an icon on and off the court. He transcended sports. He still does to this day. He is literally a brand, and a massively successful one at that. I'm not sure Tom Brady has that same kind of pull. He doesn't quite capture people's imaginations like Michael did (and still does.)
I agree that Jordan is more of an icon. But it's boring to watch a series talking about how great someone is, unless you're a diehard fan of them.
As a non-Chicago fan, the most interesting parts of the series to me are the controversies. The rivalry with the Pistons, his father's murder, the gambling stuff, him being a jerk to his teammates, the stuff with the front office. If anything, Brady's got more material to work with than this.
Hard disagree. People LOVE that kind of stuff. Controversy, backstabbing, tension, profanity, miraculous talent, etc.... That is what people want to see. There is a much more limited audience for a documentary about the squeaky clean white kid than there is for the worldwide cultural icon who defined an entire generation.
I mean, if we are talking about having to manufacture suspense, the Jordan doc would have way more material than a Brady doc would simply by the massive gap in stature and demand between Jordan and Brady. I'm sure it will still be very interesting, but I have strong doubts it will match the success and captivation of a wide audience that The Last Dance has.
There's not that big of a gap between these two guys in name recognition. Pretty much everyone in America knows who Brady is, even if they don't watch football. There may be a gap in popularity between them, but that's a different matter. Notoriety is what really draws ratings. Lance Armstrong is no longer popular but people will tune in to that show because he's notorious now as a cheater.
Brady actually got suspended by the NFL for alleged rule-breaking. His team was involved in a bunch of dodgy things over the years. He's definitely been more controversial than Jordan and the Bulls, who were beloved by most people. The Patriots are a villainous franchise to a lot of fans. They're like the Bad Boy Pistons, if they had stayed dominant for a lot longer. There's a lot you could do with a series about Brady.
I don't think they should make it now though. He's still playing. They really should wait until some time after he's retired. Part of the success of The Last Dance is fueled by nostalgia from guys like me that grew up in that era.
Look Tom is a legend but his stature compared to Jordan is not close. MJ in the 90’s was the most famous person on earth! Hell they had ad campaigns about “Be Like Mike”. His logo is iconic, he personally helped bring Nike into the forefront. He made wearing sneakers fashionable. Those are things Tom simply can’t compete with! Brady’s stature in football is unmatched, but Jordan’s stature in pop culture may not ever be reached by another athlete.
I think the early years will be good because most, if not all, of those guys are retired. I would love to hear Drew Bledsoe unplugged regarding the first Super Bowl.
The latter years might not have as much oomph to it with a large number of those guys still in the league. The negative comments may not come out.
TB has plenty of mystique for me.
This will be much better than all of the Jordan whining and needless drama. Brady is the champions champion. He always put respect for the game above himself, always team above the individual - a stark contrast to the legacy of Jordan.
Brady is a more likable guy and a Michigan Man, so of course we're biased, but take off the Maize and Blue Glasses.
Jordan was the most famous person in the world in the 90's. Whatever you think of him as a person or even teammate, none of it is "needless drama". When people think of the most iconic athletes, Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are the names that come to mind.
And many would argue that given the perfect timing of the sport, TV, Olympics, NBA going international, the Nike brand, charisma, etc - Jordan was the most popular of all.
I see everything through Maize and Blue glasses and do not feel the need to change that. Michigan is a great institution and has played a significant part in shaping how I think and the person that I am. I do not run from that.
Jordan versus Brady is a stark contrast. Both men are equally great and have reached the pinnacle of their respective sports. To me, Brady’s story is far more compelling and uplifting. There is nothing better to me than a man driven by the humility of getting drafted at 199 and riding that to be the greatest of all time. Jordan was constantly and needlessly whining. Many of his comments and actions were profoundly disrespectful to the game. Brady has a dignity that is befitting of his status in the game.
I guess to each his own. My choice is clear.
Many of his comments and actions were profoundly disrespectful to the game.
How did he disrespect the game? Haven't heard that before.
I have no idea why this comment got negged so hard.
Jordan is the greatest of all time, and generally, a prick who is tirelessly concerned with his image.
Brady is the greatest of all time who is tirelessly concerned with being a class act.
I guess there’s just a ton of Jordan lovers on this blog
This is an embarrassing, fan-boy take. No modern athlete tends to his image more than Brady.
Almost all athletes do .... Brady does it in a classy, respectful way (coming off as classy and respectful) where Jordan is concerned with how much kudos he gets and how he’s thought of in the pantheon of NBA greats ... and he comes across like a Dick
Odd that bothers you
We glossing over deflategate a lot here today.
I have no problem with Brady, I like him. But lets not pretend he isn't just as much of a competitor as Jordan is and wouldn't go just as far to try and win. The man isn't Beaver Cleaver
After watching the documentary, I got the feeling that Jordan did not give a fuck about his image, seeing how he refused to support social movements and talked trash to his teammates to make them play better. Edit: That's one of the things I like about him
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion and I'm not arguing Jordan's case... I am merely pointing out that Jordan's "didn't make the varsity basketball team and riding that to be the greatest of all time" is functionally similar to Brady's story.
Except that story is not entirely true. The coach put him on the JV team so he could get more minutes as a sophomore. Besides, that was before his growth spurt. Jordan always makes it sound like he was told he wasn't good enough, but as with everything else in his career, it's a well-crafted "version" of the truth.
Interesting. I always thought it was odd that Jordan would ever get kicked off a team and even odder that someone so competitive would have an off switch.
You know what Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have in common? They're not Tom Brady.
Should be "The Man in the Stadium" though.
I, too, took a double take at "Arena". WTF? Maybe they're thinking about a gladiator arena? I dunno, man, seems like a stretch...
Arena makes perfect sense, as it is a play off Theodore Roosevelt's famous speech "The Man in the Arena" that has motivated Tom Brady.
The most famous part of Teddy's "Man in the Arena" speech use to be up in the Michigan weight room for the football players to see:
"It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Jordan also had the good fortune to come along with the "shoe" era. In terms of the sport itself Magic and Bird were actually more significant. They took the NBA out of the doldrums and set up Jordan's run.
If it happens, hopefully the spotlight will avoid "TB12" (partly a football version of Gwyneth Paltrow's "goop"). Recent news on that front:
https://bestlifeonline.com/tom-brady-immunity-protect/
https://nesn.com/2020/05/people-are-killing-tom-brady-for-trying-to-sell-his-tb12-immune-booster/
I guess it'll depend on how much editorial influence Brady and his agent will have on the finished product. The Jordan docu-drama certainly skated over many aspects of his legacy, as MJ did have significant influence on how he was portrayed.
Love me some Tom Brady...but a 9-part series seems a tad bit much. Jordan was a very complex individual who had a lot of things going on off the court(his marketing genius, father’s death, gambling addiction) that made his story a little more intriguing. Jordan’s bravado also made for great television. I doubt Brady will be pissed and hold grudges at his peers like Jordan did(Isiah Thomas, Horace Grant, Jerry Krause) so many years later.
I don't think he holds grudges, either, but maybe. I mean, he's pretty much in the anti-Bridget Moynahan camp, despite having dated her for a number of years. (Or maybe because of that, right?!!?)
I don't think the whole 'i'ma have a baby so you have to marry me thing' helps sway positive thoughts, though...
I mean, take off the homer shades for a minute and there’s more than enough to fill 9 episodes in my humble opinion, and some of it is not all that flattering. Quickly off the top of my head:
- The Henson - Brady battle
- Brady was benched at some point during the first two games of the 98 season
- Henson’s first game at Michigan Stadium involved him entering at the end of the game against Syracuse to a standing ovation while Brady was booed off the field
- To this day, per the book ‘Brady vs Manning’, Tom’s dad has little to no use for Carr
- Brady’s great play at the end of the 99 season
- Going 199 in the draft after some 1AA QB named Spergon Wynn and after his hometown Niners took a QB that never appeared in a regular season game
- Getting the starting nod after Bledsoe went down and going on to win the Super Bowl (Tuck Rule game - it would be great to have Woodson on with him to talk about it)
- Spygate and the rest of the season that followed could be a documentary all on its own
- TB12 and the trainer controversy
- The Deflated Balls saga and suspension
- Leaving NE
Thats not even including the rest of the seasons where they went to the Super Bowl. I doubt Brady will be ripping people on camera but I think it will be compelling TV.
To be honest if the last dance didn’t come out...this Brady doc could be done in a couple hours. I think it will be good television but Brady’s depth as a player/figure is mostly on the field of play. Yes the spy gate reasoning, explanation will be intriguing...if Brady or Belichick talk about it. The only other sports figure that can even come close to having multi-part series that would captivate an audience Like MJ did with the Last Dance would be Tiger Woods in my opinion(although a Mike Tyson one would be compelling as well).
I'll never understand the deflate-gate thing. Numerous science-y people did experiments and all of them concluded that it's easy to show how the balls were at the PSI that they were in that type of weather. Plus, NE started scoring left and right after halftime when the balls were re-inflated.
I don’t disagree, but Brady was suspended for it (after allegedly smashing his phone to hide the evidence) and it adds to the stigma of the ‘Pats are cheaters’ crowd, and that’s no small group. Had it not been for Spygate, it would’ve been no story, but alas...
Remember that the NFL players union didn't want Brady to hand over his phone and set a bad precedent, which was obviously smart, as the NFL leaked what he did hand over out to the media - some of it was embarrassing.
Also, the NFL misrepresented facts blatantly in its arguments against Brady. Why? They had a foregone conclusion and didn't want to back track when they couldn't prove it? The NFL started with a premise of "if the balls lost air pressure therefore somebody cheated" - you must prove your innocence. The initial NFL guy digging into it didn't even know that balls could lose air pressure when moved from a warm indoors to a rainy cold outdoors.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/03/08/tom-brady-nfl-deflategate-appeal-susp…
https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/01/22/espn-story-deflategate-scandal-n…
I have nothing on my phone besides a few apps, text conversations, and pictures of my kids over the years. Still, there is no way I would hand over my phone to an institution opposed to me. I am not saying that Brady is guilty of anything and he was hiding it by destroying his phone. I am saying it was a smart move because who knows what would have leaked or used against him
I agree with others about not handing over the phone on principle.
It also wouldn't surprise me that the words "lower the pressure" may have been in a text meaning that since you asked me how I like the ball pressure I will respond in text shorthand that I want you to lower the pressure as far as legally allowed.
And then there is autocorrect. It was once texted that "I saw Tiff(any)" and the autocorrect result was amusing.
I agree with others about not handing over the phone on principle.
It also wouldn't surprise me that the words "lower the pressure" may have been in a text meaning that since you asked me how I like the ball pressure I will respond in text shorthand that I want you to lower the pressure as far as legally allowed.
And then there is autocorrect. It was once texted that "I saw Tiff(any)" and the autocorrect result was amusing.
This is gonna be boring as shit, but I'll watch
Last part of username fits.
Seems like they should wait for his career to be over before doing one but ?
Yeah they're going to be missing a chapter. What if the TB run goes awesome and it tells a story about whether TB or Belichick was great in New England? What if it goes terribly?
People in Michigan and Massachusetts will eat it up. The rest of the country not so much.
Of course I'm going to be watching it, but I'm hoping it chronicles a bit into his upbringing, HS and Michigan days. We know a lot about the Michigan side, but I for one don't know much about his backstory before he got there.
I'm guessing it probably won't get the same ratings as The Last Dance. For one, by that point we should have sports back in at least some capacity. And two, I don't think Brady is revered the same way Jordan is.
Don't get me wrong: Brady is the GOAT. He is the best ever to do what he does. But I wouldn't really say he's an international icon like Jordan is. People the world over know who Michael Jordan is. You go to France, China, Cameroon, Russia, New Zealand, Chile, people know who Michael Jordan is. I doubt many outside the US know much about Tom Brady or really care to know. Jordan truly made the NBA an internationally-known and respected organization. Brought exposure to I don't know how many countries. I think Stern said 200+ in the ninth or tenth episode. The NFL, for all its power and allure, really has no fanbase outside the US.
The NFL, for all its power and allure, really has no fanbase outside the US.
That's not entirely true. I know a number of people who are from and/or currently live in Europe and american football is becoming fairly popular there. Idk if it will ever rival Soccer, or even basketball, in that part of the world, but it's not like it was even 10 years ago.
At the end of the day, football is still an American sport. A regional sport. It may also have some pull in Central America, Canada has the CFL, and sure, maybe over time there will be a general following in Europe for the NFL. I just can't see it as much more than something that people casually watch to keep themselves entertained. Not something that they truly get invested in. Are the people who go to the London games anyone besides expats and people who got the tickets via corporate seats?
You can take this to the bank, though: American football will never, and I mean never, replace soccer internationally. I'm not even sure that it replaces basketball. I don't think that's a market the NFL can ever really penetrate. Soccer is so ingrained into the culture and you're talking about multiple generations of people growing up having followed and devoted themselves to these teams.
I don't understand comments like this. Whether or not a documentary series is compelling viewing has little to do with how big of an icon the subject is or how popular the sport is. Few people outside the U.S. would know who O.J. Simpson is but that series ESPN made about him was really interesting. What matters is whether it's a good story, that's all. You can certainly make a good story out of Brady's career.
Oh man this is going to be a bore compared to the MJ one.