Dave Portnoy has spent years in Tom Brady’s corner, but the Barstool Sports founder is now blasting the quarterback’s post-retirement public image.
Portnoy, who has long worn his Patriots loyalty on his sleeve, has been one of Brady’s loudest defenders for a long time. That support went all the way to the Deflategate fight, when Portnoy and three Barstool employees handcuffed themselves together outside NFL headquarters in New York City to protest Brady’s suspension. The stunt ended with all four spending a night in jail.
Now, though, Portnoy says Brady is taking things too far.
His frustration was sparked by Brady’s latest promotional appearance with Logan Paul at Fanatics Fest, followed by their middle-finger exchange during the FIFA World Cup final. The staged slap between Brady and Paul at Fanatics Fest had already spread quickly online, and Portnoy took to X to vent, aiming much of his anger at Fanatics founder Michael Rubin.
“Can somebody please shake Tom Brady and tell him to get as far away from Michael Rubin as possible and stop lamifying his entire legacy,” Portnoy wrote on X.
Portnoy has repeatedly called Brady the greatest player in Patriots history, but he now sounds fed up with the way the seven-time Super Bowl champion has been showing up in public since retiring from the NFL.
Brady has stayed active since leaving the game, working in broadcasting, business ventures and appearances at major sporting events. He has also continued to work closely with Rubin at multiple Fanatics events, where internet personalities such as Logan Paul are often part of the mix.
That’s exactly what has Portnoy - and now plenty of other football fans - questioning whether Brady’s recent appearances are starting to overshadow the legacy he built on the field.
In Other News...
Falcons May Have Found A Bigger Answer Behind Bijan Than Expected
The Falcons didnt just add a backup behind Bijan Robinson, they may have found a more complete fit for what their offense wants to be. Brian Robinson Jr. arrived on a one-year, $2.5 million deal and brings real starting experience from Washington before his time with San Francisco, giving Atlanta a runner who has already handled a larger workload and can step into meaningful snaps without forcing the offense to change its identity.
For a team that still wants to lean on the run, the appeal is obvious. Brian Robinson Jr. is expected to give the Falcons a change-of-pace presence and a goal-line option, which matters even more after Tyler Allgeier moved on and Atlanta looked for a cheaper answer with a different kind of value. The question now is how much of that role he can claim in a backfield built around Bijan Robinson, and how quickly he can turn that opportunity into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Already Seem To Have A Plan If Ulbrich Leaves
Jeff Ulbrichs rise has put the Falcons in a familiar NFL spot, with a coordinator who looks like a future head coach and a staff that has to think ahead before the next opening arrives. Atlanta has already started doing that work by bringing in Patrick Toney, a defensive assistant whose background and recent move to the Falcons make him one of the more interesting names on the defensive side of the building.
Toney did not arrive in Atlanta by accident, either. He had already accepted a defensive coordinator job at Ole Miss before changing course to join the Falcons, a decision that says plenty about the opportunity in front of him and the way the organization is trying to keep its defensive pipeline strong. He also comes with recent experience coaching defensive backs in Arizona, where he spent the last three seasons working with a young cornerback group, which should help as he settles in with Atlantas secondary. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Have Cap Space And Too Many Holes To Ignore Before Camp
The Falcons still have room to work with this offseason, sitting on roughly $38 million in cap space, but the more pressing issue is that the roster still has too many obvious openings to ignore before camp. Help is needed on both sides of the ball, and the conversation around Atlanta has already turned toward whether the front office should use that flexibility to chase impact veterans at receiver, offensive line, edge and linebacker rather than waiting for the market to sort itself out.
Wideout remains part of the discussion because the room does not feel finished, while the right side of the line has its own questions after Kaleb McGarys retirement. On defense, the edge situation is still murky with James Pearce Jr. leaving an unclear timeline, and linebacker is another spot where a steady veteran could make sense. The names being floated are the kind of proven options that could change the feel of the roster quickly, even if the Falcons still have to decide how aggressive they want to be. [Read more 🡒]