Should Tom Brady be speaking to Wayne Rooney? NFL legend’s role at Birmingham questioned after ‘work ethic’ jibe on Amazon Prime documentary

The NFL legend has been a minority stakeholder at St Andrew’s since the summer of 2023. His first season on the Blues’ board ended in relegation out of the Championship being suffered, with the decision to appoint Manchester United legend Rooney as manager during that campaign proving to be disastrous.

Footage from that forgettable tenure features on the new Amazon Prime Video documentary ‘Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues’. Seven-time Super Bowel winner Brady is seen casting doubt over Rooney’s ability to bring the best out of an underperforming squad.

Brady is eager to be hands on when not in the United States, but ex-EFL player turned pundit Don Goodman has told Compare.bet of his role in English football: “What I would say is, Tom Brady brings a top-of-the-range winning mentality of what it takes as a professional sports person to be the best version and the most elite version of yourself. That's what he brings.

“He doesn't bring any tactical nous or tactical problem-solving ability; that job belongs to Chris Davis, obviously. But there is no doubt he can inspire players. I read an interview with Ethan Laird, and he speaks a lot about Tom Brady and how he's in awe of him.

“When you've had a career like the one Tom Brady has had, maybe that's why he felt comfortable talking about Wayne Rooney in the way that he did. But can you compare American football and soccer? I'm not so sure. For example, the distances covered by a player in both sports are so diverse, which represents a different physical and mental challenge.

“But what you can't take away from Tom Brady is that winning mentality and that knowledge of what kind of dedication is required to become a success and reach the very maximum of your potential, I would say.

“I was at Birmingham vs Wrexham last season when Rob McElhenney, Tom Brady and even David Beckham were in attendance (Ryan Reynolds couldn’t make it!). Nobody really cared there was a football match going on! I just think the eyes that they will bring to the Championship this season can only be a positive, like it was in League One last season.”

Birmingham and Wrexham stepped out of League One in 2024-25 - with the Blues taking the third tier title in record-breaking style - and both have spent bid in the summer transfer window as they take aim at the Premier League.

They are being tipped to figure among the Championship frontrunners, but Goodman added on them becoming smaller fish in a much bigger pond: “I think you've seen from both Birmingham City and Wrexham's recruitment that they have recognised how challenging and different the Championship will prove to be compared to League One.

“And so, I don't think that the majority of clubs facing Birmingham and Wrexham will view it as a 'cup final', particularly the ones that are going for promotion. I don't think those sorts of teams are going to be viewing those games as 'cup finals.'  I think much of it depends on how the season progresses and on how the clubs are doing, respectively. But there's no doubt about it, the glitz and the glamour that the two clubs bring off the pitch is going to be brilliant exposure for the Championship.

“Based on how superior Birmingham were last season and how they've more than matched Wrexham's recruitment, of the two teams, you would have to say Birmingham would probably be the ones who have a better chance of going up. I've gone from giving them no chance to saying maybe they have got a chance, and that's the danger of speculating before the transfer window shuts.”

Birmingham took a point from their opening game of the 2025-26 campaign, having been pegged back late on in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich, while Wrexham suffered late heartache when falling to a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Southampton.