Ahead of his gridiron return at this weekend’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic, Tom Brady stopped by “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to give the late-night host a few pro tips.
The former Patriots quarterback turned Fox Sports analyst sat with Fallon for a wide-ranging chat, covering everything from his latest ventures in the card collecting business to his hangout session with NBA star LeBron James in Las Vegas. Fallon and his guest also poked fun at their embarrassing high school haircuts (Fallon admitted he once got a perm), as well as Brady’s recently unveiled bronze statue at Gillette Stadium.
“All the pigeons take dead aim at that whenever they fly over,” Brady joked. “So be careful when you get a statue, because you never know how it’s going to look day-to-day.”
Brady later talked returning to the football field for the first time since his 2023 retirement at the star-studded flag football game on Saturday, which will feature past and present NFL players and other celebrities competing, including Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski.
The match-up was originally set to take place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, but was moved to BMO Stadium in Los Angeles due to “the events that are happening in the Middle East,” Brady explained to Fallon, noting his excitement over getting the chance to compete again.
“Been in the booth watching these young guys play, now I get to go out there and try to kick their butt once again and remind them who the boss is,” boasted Brady.
As flag football is set to debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Fallon asked the legendary quarterback if he plans to help Team USA on its quest to gold should the need arise.
“Why would they ever need a quarterback?” Brady said, noting that he doesn’t want to generate any headlines or speculation before name dropping several current stars he thinks should play instead. “But I get to play on this Saturday, so watch that first. I may look terrible, you never know.”
And before wrapping up his appearance, Brady gave Fallon a few lessons on how to toss a football, even channeling the energy of his old coach to hype Fallon up.
“You want me to be like Bill Belichick?” Brady said before breaking out his Belichick impression. “God damn it, Jimmy!”
“That’s what I want! That’s what I’m talking about!” an enthused Fallon replied, eventually throwing a pretty decent pass to Brady.
Of course, the former Super Bowl champion showed Fallon how it’s done in a later skit, where the record-setting quarterback was tasked with breaking actual vinyl records by throwing footballs at them.
Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.