Tom Brady was leaving the New England Patriots but would he retire or join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

The commercial referencing a fictional road to a Brady-Rob Gronkowski-Tampa agreement is great. But it’s already been released and won’t be seen during the Super Bowl.

Why? It’s from T-Mobile and didn’t pass the approval process with the NFL, whose official wireless sponsor is Verizon. See the problem?

On Friday morning T-Mobile released the ad; the company’s CEO Mike Sievert tweeted the commercial was “BANNED.” A subsequent T-Mobile news release reported that “even after edits, it still got banned because of the ‘protected rights deal’ with the NFL’s ‘official telco sponsor.’”

Football fans had most of the weekend to enjoy the well-received ad, and T-Mobile reportedly bought two other ads (in the neighborhood of $5.5 million per 30-second spot) that were approved to air during the game.

Brady is seen seeking advice from old friend and Patriots teammate Gronkowski about retirement. But, because of poor cell phone service, Gronkowski’s advice is misinterpreted.

Gronk originally said: “I got one word for you: Retirement. If you retire now, you’re gonna be walking on soft sand in a week. Retirement is like winning another one! Maybe I’ll even join you.”

But thanks to a poor connection, Brady heard: “If you retire now, you’re soft and weak. Just come to Florida and win another one.”

His decision cemented, Brady takes to the microphone in a fictional news conference announcing he’s joining the Bucs.

And “I’m taking Gronk with me,” Brady says.

“I’m retiring from retiring?” Gronkowski, living with him mom, asks himself while watching Brady.

A winner from Tom Brady? We’d expect nothing less.

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