Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has been absent from training camp since August 11, and one fan thinks that he might be filming The Masked Singer season 8. Tom is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all-time, and fans were thrilled when, just 40 days after he announced his retirement, he unretired and said that he plans to return to the Buccaneers for the 2022 season. Tom has been away from the Buccaneers training camp since August 11, dealing with a “personal issue,” and head coach Todd Bowles said that there was no definitive date for his return.
If Tom is competing on The Masked Singer, he will join a group of NFL superstars who have appeared on the show over the years. They include Antonio Brown (Hippo), Terry Bradshaw (Deer), Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski (White Tiger), Mark Sanchez (Baby Alien), and Jordan Mailata (Thingamabob).
In a Reddit thread titled, “Stop freaking out about Brady, he’s just off filming for the Masked Singer,” user DynastyFF shared the theory about Tom Brady possibly joining The Masked Singer. The theory began as a joke, but became more logical as the pieces were put together. If Tom were going on the show, he would have to keep it a secret, which could explain why the reports about him taking a leave of absence from training camp were so vague. It was also reported that his absence was known about and approved in advance by the team, which would make sense if he were filming a television show. DynastyFF speculated that Tom could have agreed to be on The Masked Singer during his brief retirement and then still was obligated to fulfill the commitment when he rejoined the team. The Reddit post also states, “the leave of absence could have been a condition to him coming back. All of this is clearly speculation, but I started to really believe this was the reason for his leave of absence. So I decided to do some research.”
DynastyFF then gave two main reasons that Tom might be on The Masked Singer. The first is that in May 2022, Tom signed a 10-year $375 million deal with FOX Sports to be their main NFL analyst once he retires. The Masked Singer airs on FOX as well. In fact, during The Masked Singer season 7, Joe Buck performed as Ram when he was the main NFL Color Commentator for FOX Sports. DynastyFF used this is as evidence that “the precedent is there.” However, the second reason was “the smoking gun.” On the website in which fans can sign up to be audience members for The Masked Singer, a filming session was scheduled to occur on August 20. This was the same date as the Buccaneers-Titans preseason game, which Tom said that he would definitely be out through. Although other filming dates occurred when Tom was still in attendance and could not be taping The Masked Singer, DynastyFF pointed out that not all contestants are on every episode, and so it is very possible that Tom could be filming during the later dates. Since the date for Tom’s return is not definite, but it was not going to be before that Titans game, this would allow him time to advance to the finals if he made it that far.
Fans would love it if Tom appeared on The Masked Singer. The clues in the DynastyFF Reddit thread do seem to point in that direction. If Tom ever did decide to compete on the show, football fans know the perfect mask for him: the GOAT.
The Masked Singer season 8 premieres on September 21.
Source: DynastyFF/Reddit
