A recently surfaced viral football clip from Amazon’s ‘Built in Birmingham’ documentary has unveiled NFL legend Tom Brady’s candid and surprising initial impressions of Wayne Rooney’s ill-fated coaching tenure at Birmingham City, offering a rare glimpse into the dynamics behind the scenes of professional football management.
The footage captures the very first encounter between the seven-time Super Bowl champion, who became a minority owner of Birmingham City in 2023, and the former Manchester United and Everton star, Wayne Rooney, shortly after Rooney’s appointment as manager. This pivotal meeting occurred in the immediate aftermath of Rooney replacing the popular John Eustace, a decision that proved to be highly controversial among the club’s fanbase.
During their initial interaction, the laid-back Rooney is seen inviting Brady to an upcoming team meeting, to which Brady, ever the strategist, politely declines, expressing a concern about being a potential distraction. Rooney then suggests a private conversation to discuss his tactical plans, an exchange that, in hindsight, Brady would later reflect upon as lacking the assertive leadership he typically associated with high-performance environments.
The documentary then transitions to Rooney leading a team meeting, emphasizing the importance of defensive pressing and making it difficult for attackers. Brady is visibly present, observing the session, with the narrative cutting to him in a car immediately afterwards, deep in contemplation over the club’s decision to hire their new coach, hinting at the internal doubts already brewing within the ownership.
It is in a revealing conversation with his business manager, Ben Rawitz, that Tom Brady truly articulates his anxieties. “I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic,” Brady confides, to which Rawitz echoes his sentiment, describing Rooney as coming “across as lackadaisical.” Brady’s instincts, honed over decades of elite American football competition, clearly signaled a red flag regarding Rooney’s approach to football coaching.
Brady directly confronted Rooney with his philosophy on practice and performance, drawing a stark parallel between American football and soccer. “What’s the difference between [American football] and soccer? Nothing. I treated practice like it was the Super Bowl. Put pressure on them, make them run for everything,” Brady reportedly told the Englishman, highlighting his belief in relentless intensity and demanding high standards from players.
Ultimately, Wayne Rooney’s challenging tenure at Birmingham City was short-lived, lasting only three months before his dismissal and subsequent replacement by Tony Mowbray. The viral football clip and the broader sports documentary serve as a stark reminder of the complexities of club ownership and management, particularly when legendary figures like Tom Brady step into new sporting domains.
Reflecting on the tumultuous period, Brady later admitted in the documentary his regret at not heeding initial advice to avoid wholesale changes upon joining the club. The public revelation of Brady’s early concerns through this sports documentary offers a fascinating perspective on the high-stakes world of professional football and the difficult decisions faced by those at its helm.
