# Angry Tom Brady

Angry Tom Brady is a reaction image meme born from a sideline shot of the New England Patriots quarterback scowling during his team's 42-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on opening night of the 2017 NFL season. Twitter users spun the frown into jokes about schadenfreude, politics, and pop culture within hours of the broadcast.

## Overview
Angry Tom Brady is a reaction image pulled from a sideline shot of the New England Patriots quarterback glaring during his team's opening night loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on September 7th, 2017[1]. The frame shows a helmet-less Brady sitting on the bench with a tight-lipped scowl as the Chiefs pull away 42-27, and Twitter users grabbed it within minutes of the broadcast[2].

The image works because the five-time Super Bowl winner is almost never photographed looking rattled, so a shot of him visibly stewing over an opening-week blowout read as instant comedy for anyone who was tired of the Patriots dynasty[1]. Captions typically pair the scowl with a punchline about something the fictional Brady is upset about, from Falcons fans getting revenge for Super Bowl LI to jokes about his personal politics[2].

## How It Spread
The image took off on Twitter overnight. User @cjzero pasted the sideline clip over the theme from Curb Your Enthusiasm and picked up more than 480 retweets and 750 likes inside a day[2]. From there other accounts started slapping captions on the still frame, turning the scowl into a general-purpose reaction image[1].

A post from @MikeGianella [2] leaned on Brady's quiet support for Donald Trump for a caption that cleared 740 retweets, while @iamHectorDiaz [2] paired the photo with a mock Brady quote about American political tension and pulled in more than 1,400 points[2]. Twitter Moments packaged the best entries into a roundup titled "Angry Tom Brady is the newest internet meme," which is where a lot of non-football fans first saw the joke[2].

SB Nation's writeup called out that the Patriots had never lost a home opener after winning a Super Bowl before that night, framing the meme as a rare crack in the dynasty's aura and part of why the reaction hit so hard[1]. The Patriots went on to reach Super Bowl LII that season, but the sideline scowl stuck around as shorthand for any moment Brady, or anyone, looked visibly done with a bad situation[1].

## How to Use
Posts typically crop to the tight sideline shot of Brady's scowl and add a top caption describing what the fictional Brady is angry about, often something petty, political, or unrelated to football. A common convention pairs the still with an audio or video clip, as @cjzero did with the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme, so the frame reads as a punchline reveal[2].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Angry Tom Brady?
It's a reaction image of quarterback Tom Brady scowling on the sideline during the New England Patriots' 42-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on opening night of the 2017 NFL season[1].

### Where did Angry Tom Brady come from?
The still was pulled from NBC's broadcast of the 2017 NFL Kickoff Game on September 7th, 2017, and started circulating on Twitter within hours[1][2].

### What does Angry Tom Brady mean?
It's used as shorthand for schadenfreude and general frustration, often at Brady's expense, and captions tend to invent absurd reasons for why he looks so livid[2].

### How do you use Angry Tom Brady?
People typically pair the cropped sideline scowl with a top caption or an audio clip, like the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme that @cjzero used on the original video[2].

### Is Angry Tom Brady still popular?
It settled into a classic sports reaction image after 2017, pulled back out whenever the Patriots or Brady have a rough moment, though it was at its loudest the week the broadcast aired[1].

## References
1. [https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2017/9/8/16272604/angry-tom-brady-is-the-first-meme-of-the-nfl-season](<https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2017/9/8/16272604/angry-tom-brady-is-the-first-meme-of-the-nfl-season>)
2. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/angry-tom-brady](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/angry-tom-brady>)

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Source: https://meme.com/memes/angry-tom-brady
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