Actor Paul Scheer reveals that Tom Brady once threatened legal action over a shirt he made comparing Hayao Miyazaki to Brady. Edit by Liam McGuire, Comeback Media.

Tom Brady has been in the headlines — a lot, lately.

The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback turned NFL on Fox broadcaster is currently mired in conflict(s) of interest, most notably this upcoming weekend. As a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady reportedly was “influential” in the organization’s decision to fire head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco.

The same organization is said to be “enamored” with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Brady will be on the call for Fox as Detroit and Johnson play host to the Washington Commanders in the NFC Divisional Round.

But Brady also had another conflict of interest that doesn’t relate to football. Apparently, some legal action—or the threat of it—was involved here, too.

According to actor and comedian Paul Scheer, best known for his role as Andre in “The League,” Brady tried to sue him.

Scheer said that Brady threatened legal action against him and his Unspooled podcast, which he co-hosts with film critic Amy Nicholson.

“When we were watching Porco Rosso, a [Hayao] Miyazaki movie, we were talking about this idea that sometimes Miyazaki will retire and then he comes out of retirement,” explained Scheer. “You know, he’s sort of never quite happy. And I said, ‘Well, Miyazaki is the Tom Brady of the animation world.

“So there is the shirt (seen below in the TikTok) we made, and we started selling it on TeePublic. And [I] get this phone call — Tom Brady has given us an injunction. If we continue to sell this shirt, we will be sued. Apparently, this motherf*cker has trademarked his own name. So you can’t sell anything with the words ‘Tom Brady’ on it.”

@paulscheer What would you do if #tombrady tried to #sue you over a #tshirt? #football #nflplayoffs #nfl ♬ original sound – Paul Scheer

How could they get around this?

“So we made this — ‘Miyazaki is the Brady of the animation world,'” said Scheer.

It’s still available for purchase on TeePublic.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.