1. It was just over a year ago that Tom Brady was roasted on Netflix. How the roast came about and why the future Hall of Fame quarterback agreed to be lit up by former teammates, friends and comedians was never made crystal clear.

However, legendary roaster Jeff Ross pulled back the curtain on all of that during a Wednesday appearance on SiriusXM’s Howard Stern Show.

Stern asked Ross if Brady deserved credit for being roasted, or was the legendary QB just insane.

“There’s never been a live roast,” Ross said. “So, he should get a Nobel Peace Prize for saying yes to that. He took the hit so we could all forget our problems for three hours.”

It turns out, according to Ross, that Brady’s Instagram use on Feb. 7, 2021, the day he played (and beat) the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, got the ball rolling on the roast.

“I had seen him looking at my Instagram on Super Bowl Sunday a few years ago,” Ross told Stern. “I was like, ‘why the f--- is Tom Brady on my Instagram?’

“I had some jokes up. Maybe that’s how he unwinds before a big game. And he f---ing wins! So I hit him up the next day on Instagram going, ‘Dude, it’s time for a roast. You obviously love this s---.’

He writes me back, we start talking, and it turns out my agent and his agent work together, and we put a deal together to do a roast. Netflix was like, SURE!’ I’m like, let’s elevate this whole thing. Bring the roast back bigger.”

How did Brady go from enjoying Ross’s Instagram page to being on stage, getting ripped to shreds by a slew of people?

“I said to Tom right beforehand, ‘Why are you doing this?,’” Ross explained. “And he goes, ‘I love this kind of humor. People are too snowflakey right now.’”

Stern asked Ross if he was shocked that Brady agreed to get roasted live on Netflix.

“I can say shock because it was like drip, drip, drip,” said Ross. “It took so long because he agreed. Then he retired. We were like, let’s go, now’s our chance. Then he unretired. Then we had to wait until he was done playing. Then he was going through a divorce. Let’s wait for that. Then Netflix was like, our festival is next May, let’s wait for that. And let’s do it live. So, he was already on the hook when I brought the live idea.”

One of the most famous moments of the roast was when Ross made a massage parlor joke about Robert Kraft, and Brady told him, “Don’t say that s--- again.”

Was Brady really angry about the quip?

“I think Tom was checking me the way a lawyer objects on behalf of a client even when they know it’s kind of bull---,” Ross told Stern. “I just shrugged it off and kept going.”

2. A new episode of the SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped on Thursday. This week’s show features a conversation about all of the latest sports media news with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch.

Topics discussed during the podcast include how Stephen A. Smith became an ongoing story during the NBA Finals; the ratings for the Pacers-Thunder series; whether all the off-court storylines regarding Caitlin Clark help or hurt the WNBA; a couple of recent live broadcasting moments that made headlines; Amazon vs. NBA for next year's NBA coverage; the WWE’s upcoming Netflix series that promises an unprecedented behind-the-scenes-look and much more.

Following Deitsch, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week, we discuss the sad state of New York baseball, the new season of Quarterback on Netflix and the trailer for the new Bruce Springsteen biopic featuring Jeremy Allen White. Additionally, I respond to listener emails.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

3. MLB Network’s morning show, MLB Central, is one of those under-the-radar shows that doesn’t generate buzz over wacky takes and outlandish behavior, but keeps chugging along, serving viewers and giving fans a solid watch. Props to the show, featuring Robert Flores, Lauren Shehadi and Mark DeRosa, which aired its 1,000th episode Thursday morning.

4. I guess this is why they don’t play baseball in the rain.

5. This is what happens when X lets people pay for blue checkmarks, and there isn’t a simple yet strong verification system.

6. SiriusXM has announced that beginning July 1, channel 156 will become Pro Wrestling Nation 24/7—a 24-hour channel dedicated to pro wrestling programming. You can get all of the information here.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 55th birthday to actor Sean Hayes, who had one of the best breaks in Saturday Night Live history thanks to Will Ferrell.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Comedian Jeff Ross Reveals Why Tom Brady Agreed to Roast.

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