Tom Brady is not relatable in any way, shape, or form. And why should he be?! He is the greatest and most accomplished football player of all time. He was married to a supermodel. He successfully found the fountain of youth where Ponce de Leon failed. If there’s one guy who has (or had) it all, it would be him.

But ever since he stepped away from the NFL, Tom Brady has been in a weird place. And we’re not even talking about rumors about a recent fling with Sofia Vergara.

His infamous Netflix roast launched so many bizarre subplots and disputes that it’s hard to wrap your head around. And in the midst of it all, Brady has admitted his regret over the whole thing and the negative effect on its family.

Then there is his $375 million broadcast career, which was met with decisively mixed reviews throughout his rookie season as the lead analyst for the NFL on Fox. By the time it was over, Fox payed GOAT money to a replacement level analyst. And with his Las Vegas Raiders ownership complicating matters, it’s impossible to tell where Brady’s post-playing career priorities actually lie.

And Brady’s latest effort, an Amazon Prime Video documentary about his minority ownership stake in Birmingham FC, currently playing in the second tier of English soccer, is only adding to the perplexity.

Tom Brady may be the first person in world history to ever have a documentary made about their 3% minority ownership in something. So the mere existence of the Brady-Birmingham documentary is confusing, to say the least.

As the reviews have come in for Built in Birmingham, there is one prevailing narrative — Tom Brady is not a likable or relatable guy. The one clip that has gone viral is Brady dissing manager Wayne Rooney for his work ethic after a very brief encounter. Although he was a legendary player, Rooney only lasted 15 games as Birmingham manager.

In its review, The Independent noted Brady’s driven desire to win, yes, but also his aloof and distant personality. And it appears that the only goal in this entire endeavor is to get one over on Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and their success at Wrexham by copying the formula of the beloved Welcome to Wrexham.

They are trying to mine a formula, but it is a dumbing down of the League One season, with the other 22 clubs obscured and two highlighted. They are at pains to draw distinctions between Birmingham and Wrexham, but not Wigan or Wycombe. Only two league games attract more than a cursory mention: long segments on the two meetings with Wrexham.

“Wrexham, we’re coming for your ass,” says Brady, in an outbreak of frat-boy nonsense. The Birmingham fans are at least sharper. “You can stick your f***ing Deadpool up your arse,” they chant. Their special guest, David Beckham, has to explain a chorus about sheepshaggers to Brady. His visit is instructive. Wagner wants to give Beckham a Birmingham swag bag, presumably thinking the very rich need more free stuff.

Brady is uneasy talking to English people, apart from Beckham, and much more relaxed around Americans. His reference points are all American, sending manager Chris Davies a video about transformational leadership from a college football coach. He perks up when talking about his NFL career; when there is more footage of Brady’s touchdown passes than Birmingham’s passing, it feels clear who the designed audience is.

In their review, Decider says to “Skip It” noting that Brady shows no charm in his role with the club. This is not an underdog story like Welcome to Wrexham about a scrappy non-league club from Wales. Birmingham is the second biggest city in England!

And unlike Reynolds and McElhenney, Brady seemingly has no interest in actually integrating himself with the club, the city, or the culture. If anything, he appears to be more in line with billionaire Middle Eastern or American owners as an investor looking to make a power play by doing what the other rich, cool kids are doing in owning an English soccer team.

Anyways. Tom Brady bought a share in Birmingham FC, a formerly-successful English soccer club, for reasons that are unclear beyond “he is rich, and bored, and has the means to do so.” From the opening minutes, we’re shown that Brady’s knowledge of English soccer is thin even by American standards. Maybe they’re hoping for a Ted Lasso thing here? Problem is, Jason Sudeikis is extremely charming, and also has a room full of writers to help him make his character even more charming. Tom Brady, well — you already know where I stand on this.

[…]

The pilot burns half its runtime braying about how good all this is going to go before focusing on anything to actually do with the management of the club, and that’s where this show really falls flat. The success of Wrexham and the charm of Running With the Wolves is that those shows–and their respective celebrity owners–really seem to care about getting into the nitty-gritty of reviving their clubs. I’m not convinced that Brady–or the filmmakers here–feel the same way, and this ultimately feels like a hollow exercise with high production values, a celebrity vehicle with no script but a lot of flashy graphics.

The social media reviews are equally as unkind to Tom Brady, led by a discussion between Dan Patrick and Seton O’Connor on The Dan Patrick Show. If Tom Brady has to make the case in the documentary that this is not a vanity project, then it probably is a vanity project.

“The vibes of it are very strange for me, and I’m not really sure what Tom was trying to portray with this.”

– @HiMyNameIsSeton breaks down the new Tom Brady documentary, “Built In Birmingham: Brady & The Blues.” pic.twitter.com/EZQE1ED46T

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 4, 2025

A few caveats :
This is from the Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues
– This is some of the worst football TV series I’ve ever watched. Absolutely self indulgent soap.
– Rich sports people talked into bad financial investments when retiring ; Brady isn’t the first, nor the last… pic.twitter.com/BJNCkur4x0

— Sébastien (@SebC__) August 3, 2025

I think this show really demonstrates two things: how good Welcome to Wrexham is as a piece of television and how much of a prick Tom Brady is. https://t.co/ka77Y7FiVu

— Joe Kramer 🔶 (@joe_kremnitzer) August 3, 2025

If the purpose of this was to portray Tom Brady as a monumental wanker then they’ve absolutely nailed it https://t.co/t7KwLe300G

— Matthew Powell (@Powell_Matthew) August 1, 2025

Been watching the Tom Brady soccer documentary series on Amazon and it’s incredible Brady would fund a vanity series that makes him look so thoroughly like a pretentious knob. It is so awkward.

— Christian Schneider (@Schneider_CM) August 4, 2025

Tom Brady could be the best and most down-to-earth dude in the world, but if that’s the case, why is it so hard for that to come across — whether it be in the broadcast booth, as a documentary star, or at a roast? If the documentary was supposed to showcase Brady’s competitiveness and desire to win, that’s one thing. But who is going to watch this and actually root for Birmingham and Brady the way that this story is told? Is Knighthead Capital Management the good guy in this?!? Maybe in Tom Brady’s world it is, but it’s hard for any normal person to relate to.