Brady Roast Offers More Proof Belichick-Kraft Friendship Is Burned

For joke-loving fans who didn’t get enough jollies from the scenes out of Maple Leaf Square after Toronto won the Great North American Choke-Off by losing to the Bruins 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night, another Boston-related event on Sunday offered the chance of some sports snickers: the roast of Tom Brady on Netflix.

Filled with jokes about the seven-time Super Bowl winner’s divorce from Giselle Bündchen, the Patriots’ long history of playing loose with the rules and the inflation levels of footballs and the millions Brady lost in crypto (which even Rob Gronkowski knew was a scam), the live Netflix comedy special definitely had some funny moments but also would certainly have benefitted from some time in the cutting room to remove poor showings by Randy Moss, Ben Affleck and Will Ferrell, to name a few.

Of course, time in the cutting room may have eliminated an intriguing moment when Brady appeared to confront roastmaster Jeff Ross over a joke about New England owner Robert Kraft’s penchant for illegal massage parlors. It also may have erased a couple of awkward moments that appeared to occur between Kraft and ex-Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Pete Carroll Once Beefed With Robert Kraft Over Bologna Sandwiches

Carroll was the head coach in New England before Bill Belichick took over

Although the assumed rift between Brady and Belichick has been the main storyline following the dismantling of the Patriot dynasty, the gap between Kraft and his former coach may be much larger and grow wider with each passing day. The Dynasty, a Kraft-copyrighted series on Apple TV that highlighted Brady and diminished Belichick, that was released a couple of months ago certainly added to the chasm.

During his time at the mic on Sunday night, Belichick addressed the docuseries. “Seriously, I’m so honored to be here for the roast of Tom Brady on Netflix,” he said. “Not to be confused with the 10-part Bill Belichick roast during the Apple TV doc.”

Though Kraft didn’t single out Belichick by name, it was fairly obvious who he was referencing during his time with the mic when he compared the Patriot-heavy roast to a family reunion. “Like many family reunions, there are some people I am desperately trying to avoid,” Kraft said.

The jokes were playful, but it was hard not to notice that Kraft and Belichick were seated about as far away from each other as possible on the roasting stage and that the latter clearly appeared uncomfortable when Kevin Hart called for him to take a shot with the former. Regardless of his feelings, a grin-less Belichick did step to center stage and down some tequila with Kraft, but it looked as if the ceremonial gesture may have burned him as much as the alcohol.

Of course, given that Mr. “Do Your Job” is now looking for one and can ill afford for Kraft to torpedo his employment search again (allegedly), Belichick will probably place nice, for a time. That time may be up when the Patriots honor Brady in about a month on 6/12/24, a date which may live in infamy. It likely won’t be as funny as 5/5/24 though.