It took virtually no time into Tom Brady's retirement for the sports world to see a side of the legendary quarterback they hadn't seen before.
Brady recently took the internet by storm when he shared a photo of himself in only boxer briefs on social media. The post was a promotion for the seven-time Super Bowl champion's clothing line, but it was surprising coming from an NFL icon who was so guarded for most of his 23-year career.
Many disregarded the Brady Brand plug and accused the future Hall of Fame of posting a "thirst trap." The 45-year-old cleared the air about his intentions for the post on the latest episode of his "Let's Go!" podcast.
"That's, I think, millennial verbiage," Brady said, as transcribed by Sports Illustrated. "I actually even had to look that up so I didn't even quite know what that meant, but just thought it was a good picture with some underwear. Nothing more than that. It's Valentine’s Day. Go buy some. BradyBrand.com. Get your favorite underwear. They're actually amazing. I'm wearing 'em right now and I promise not to share too many more of those photos."
Brady launched his self-named clothing line over a year ago, but he hadn't really pushed the envelope with promotions until he closed the book on his playing career. That might have been intentional.
"It is a little easier to do when you don't have to walk into a locker room the next day," Brady said. "Because if I did that and walked in the locker room, I'd have gotten a lot of (expletive). It's nice when I'm away that I only hear from a few of the people that like to give me (expletive)."