In meme terms, Tom Brady is a long-running image macro and parody subject built around the NFL quarterback, especially his Deflategate controversy and his dominance in New England.

Where did Tom Brady come from?

Brady meme content predates Deflategate, going back to the 2011 @TomBradysEgo parody account, but the format caught fire during the 2015 deflated footballs scandal and the autotuned press conference remix.

What does Tom Brady mean?

As a meme, Brady is shorthand for both GOAT-tier NFL success and an easy villain to photoshop into mockery, which is why Crying Michael Jordan edits of him went viral after court rulings.

How do you use Tom Brady?

People typically pair a Brady photo with a reaction face overlay or caption tied to a current football story, like courtroom sketches edited with Crying Jordan or Bradying planking shots.

Is Tom Brady still popular?

Brady is a classic sports meme subject, with the Deflategate-era edits still circulated and the KYM entry documenting ongoing reaction compilations.

Tom Brady

2015image macro / viral videoclassic

Published October 3, 2026

Tom Brady, the NFL quarterback behind seven Super Bowl wins, became a recurring meme target through the Deflategate scandal of 2015 and 2016. Parody accounts, autotuned press conferences, and Crying Michael Jordan photoshops turned every court ruling into fresh image macro fuel.

nfl memes scandal memes press conference memes photoshop memes football memes

Overview

Tom Brady memes mostly orbit two things: the Deflategate scandal and Brady's own on-field dominance that fans outside New England love to roast. The format isn't one single image, it's a cluster of recurring bits, Crying Michael Jordan faces pasted onto Brady during courtroom sketches, autotuned press conference remixes, and parody Twitter accounts narrating his inner monologue1.

The deflated football controversy gave the meme its biggest wave. Every time a court ruling flipped Brady's four-game suspension on or off, Twitter responded with image macros, photoshops and compilation posts2 3. Rival fan communities built out running jokes about Brady's reputation, his Boston accent and his almost superhero streak of winning seasons1.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

YouTube (autotune video) / Twitter (viral spread)

Date

2015

Brady entered meme territory well before Deflategate. The @TomBradysEgo parody Twitter feed launched in June 2011, writing tweets from the perspective of Brady's ego and pulling in over 236,000 followers within four years1. A May 27th, 2012 Funny or Die sketch leaned into the Boston accent joke, and on November 24th, 2013 the Fox NFL Kickoff show featured cornerback Richard Sherman reacting to a 'U mad bro?' image macro aimed at Brady4.

The meme format broke through in 2015 during Deflategate, the dispute over whether the Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the January 2015 AFC Championship game against the Colts1. Catalyst event: NFL suspension handed down in May 2015. Earliest viral meme artifact: on January 30th, 2015, the schmoyoho YouTube channel uploaded an autotuned remix of Brady's Deflategate press conference, documented on the KYM entry1.

How It Spread

The meme wave really built after the January 2015 AFC title game. The autotuned press conference on schmoyoho's channel kicked off the Deflategate remix cycle5. On September 3rd, 2015, Judge Richard M. Berman vacated Brady's suspension, and three days later the Latin Times rounded up internet reactions to the ruling2.

The second viral spike hit on April 25th, 2016, when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the four-game ban. That same day, the @NFL_Memes Twitter feed posted a photoshopped courtroom sketch with Crying Michael Jordan superimposed on Brady, pulling about 3,100 likes and 2,800 retweets inside six hours6. Twitter user @cledra ran a parallel edit using the 'Bradying' photo instead of a courtroom sketch7. Bleacher Report compiled the broader Twitter reaction the same afternoon3.

Parallel to the news cycle, dedicated meme hubs kept the format alive. The /r/tombradygifs subreddit launched on January 24th, 2014 as a home for Brady reaction GIFs, and a Tom Brady Facebook page that went up on September 15th, 2014 collected over 3.2 million likes within a year1.

Timeline

2011-06

@TomBradysEgo parody Twitter account launches, eventually passing 236,000 followers.

2012-05-27

Funny or Die releases a sketch mocking Brady's thick Boston accent.

2013-11-24

Fox NFL Kickoff airs a Richard Sherman segment riffing on a 'U mad bro?' image macro aimed at Brady.

2014-01-24

The /r/tombradygifs subreddit launches as a hub for animated Brady reactions.

2015-01-30

Schmoyoho uploads an autotuned remix of Brady's Deflategate press conference to YouTube.

2015-09-03

Judge Richard M. Berman overturns Brady's four-game suspension; meme compilations follow days later.

2016-04-25

Appeals court reinstates the suspension; @NFL_Memes and @cledra post Crying Michael Jordan photoshops that go viral the same day.

How to Use This Meme

The typical Brady meme pairs a sports news beat with a reaction overlay. A common convention is to photoshop the Crying Michael Jordan face onto Brady's head in courtroom sketches, press conference stills, or celebration photos2. Others take an existing Brady pose, like the 'Bradying' planking variant, and swap faces or captions in response to the week's football news3.