Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have connected for a record-tying 12 touchdowns during the NFL playoffs. A touchdown in Sunday’s Super Bowl will move the pair past Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
Off the field? Sometimes, the connection has been a little spotty.
That is what T-Mobile is claiming in an amusing ad it says was “banned” from Super Bowl LV because of a “protected rights deal” with the game’s official telecom sponsor, Verizon, according to Adweek. The game will be aired on CBS on Sunday evening.
The minute-long ad, which was released online Friday, shows Brady and Gronkowski speaking via cellphone. Gronk, standing on the tee of a Florida golf course, urges Brady to retire, but because of the poor service of the unnamed rival carrier, Brady hears Gronkowski tell him to “come to Florida and win another one.”
“I got one word for you: retirement,” Gronkowski actually says. “If you retire now, you’re gonna be walking on soft sand in a week. Just come to Florida and feel the wind in your hair. Retirement is like winning another one. Maybe I’ll even join you.”
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But here is what Brady hears, according to the ad.
“If you retire now … you’re soft and weak,” Gronkowski supposedly says. “Just come to Florida and win another one. Maybe I’ll even join you.”
Fast forward to a news conference in early 2020, when Brady signs with the Buccaneers.
Brady tells reporters he is focused on winning “one more” Super Bowl.
“And Gronk’s coming with me,” he says.
“I’m retired from retirement?” Gronkowski wonders as he lounges on a couch at his home. “Mom! Where are my football pants?”
T-Mobile ends the ad by referring to itself as “the GOAT of 5G.”
Despite the alleged “ban,” T-Mobile will be running two ads during the Super Bowl, Adweek reported. Perhaps the company was trying to get Verizon’s goat.
A CBS spokesperson declined to comment, Adweek reported.