Tom Brady and a meatball sub. Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images, Robyn George / Fort Myers News-Press
By Tyler Lauletta on

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Keeping up with the youths is no easy task.

The meaning of words can change without any of the olds being aware of the switch, leaving those out of the know in troubled waters.

Thankfully, for those of us a step or two behind in football’s latest trends, we have Tom Brady to keep us up to date.

In the booth for Fox alongside Kevin Burkhardt to call Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills, Brady sounded disappointed in Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert after he threw an ugly pick over the middle.

“Herbert trying to throw down the middle of the field to Valdes-Scantling, but there’s a safety in the middle of the field. That’s Gardner-Johnson,” Brady said over the replay. “Poor awareness. Poor decision. Throws him a meatball sub.”

The term “meatball” has been in the sports world for some time — in baseball it refers to a pitch thrown right down the middle for an eager hitter to hit out of the park — but the meatball sub phenomenon in football is not as well established.

At the start of the season, several social media posts began referring to interceptions as “meatball subs,” or other various sandwiches. Some early posts seem to indicate the meme references the idea that throwing such interceptions might lead to taking a job as a sandwich artist, but now it’s simply used to refer to a real bad pick. Like so many similar language quirks, context dissolves pretty quickly.

The interceptions-as-sandwiches bit is not entirely new, but it undoubtedly hit a new level of popularity at the start of the 2026 season.

A sampling of those jokes, or a hoagie tray, if you will.

The key aspect of making an interception a meatball sub is that it is an interception for which the quarterback is entirely to blame. Given how many interceptions are caused by tipped balls or simply great plays by defenders, there’s a case to be made that meatball subs should be their own statistical category.

That said, if the slang term has reached a saturation point that it is being used in the broadcast booth by Tom Brady, there’s a chance the moment is already over.

About Tyler Lauletta

Tyler is a editorial contributor at Awful Announcing, with previous stops at Sports Illustrated and Business Insider during his career covering sports in digital media. He is, begrudgingly, a Truster of the Process and general Philly sports sicko.

View all posts by Tyler Lauletta