1. And some people have the nerve to say Tom Brady doesn’t have any personality.
On Thursday, the seven-time Super Bowl champion had an eventful day on Twitter, and it all had to do with underwear.
After using Instagram earlier this week to promote one of his brands and leave little to the imagination, Brady was back at it Thursday.
The Bucs quarterback promised to re-create a photoshoot where he’d just be in his skivvies if his tweet generated 40,000 likes.
As of this writing, the tweet has 47,000 likes, so it’s time for Tom to strip.
However, the 44-year-old pushed the envelope even further, then tweeting that he’d agree to send a fan—and, while we’d never kink-shame, “fan” might be an understatement here—a pair of game-worn underwear if the fan also generated 40,000 likes for his tweet.
That fan ended up with 80,000 likes, and Brady, who is clearly a man of his word, was ready to pay up. In fact, Brady is so generous, he’s allowing the fan to make a color request for the used underwear.
We’ve written this a million times in Traina Thoughts and have said this another million times on the SI Media Podcast: It’s been quite an entertaining ride to watch Brady show off his personality and work the media game since getting out of jail. Ooops. I mean New England.
I can’t wait for him to eventually retire and see what he brings to the table when he becomes Fox’s lead NFL analyst.
Lastly, did I lead with this item today because the greatest quarterback of all time actually “liked” my reply to him on Twitter on Thursday?
Yes. Yes I did.
2. If you missed it Thursday, White Sox manager Tony La Russa caused a major stir when, trailing 7–5 with a runner on second and two outs in the seventh inning, he decided to intentionally walk the Dodgers’ Trea Turner after Turner already had a 1–2 count on him and pitch to Max Muncy instead.
Muncy promptly delivered a two-run homer.
What I enjoyed the most about this twist was that NBC Chicago, which airs the White Sox’ home games, tweeted a clip of the broadcasters questioning La Russa's move but then cutting off the clip right before Muncy's dinger.
Here's the home run via MLB.
3. In what is a completely uninspiring hiring, NBC has turned to former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett to replace Drew Brees on its Sunday Night Football studio show.
4. LIV golf has gotten a ton of attention, but when you don't have a TV deal, you don’t get a lot of viewers. Fewer than 100,000 people watched on Day 1.
5. I ask with all sincerity, so hit me up on Twitter or email me if you have answer: How on earth is this supposed to be funny?
6. This week’s SI Media Podcast features a conversation on the latest sports media news with The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis. Among the topics covered:
What went wrong between Drew Brees and NBC
- Is a mainstream NFL outlet ready to take a chance on Pat McAfee
- ABC/ESPN’s NBA Finals studio show
- Is LeBron getting a podcast?
- Overuse of "breaking news" banners on TV
Following the conversation with Curtis, Sal Licata from WFAN/SNY in New York joins me our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we do a deep dive into Kevin Durant’s response to Sal on Twitter and saying that sports talk radio “makes him nauseous.”
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
