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Tom Brady Lets Max Kellerman Know That 'The Cliff' Is Not Yet In View

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- It's possible that nobody in the history of sports media has ever gotten more mileage out of a bad take than Max Kellerman.

The take -- which, surely, everyone knows by now -- was born in July of 2016, when Kellerman spouted the following proclamation: "Tom Brady's just about done. ... He is going to fall off a cliff. Tom Brady is going to be a bum in short order."

Brady has only led his team to the Super Bowl every year since then, completing 66.3 percent of his passes while throwing for nearly 16,000 yards with 106 touchdowns and 27 interceptions in the regular season and playoffs combined. The Patriots are 43-10 in games started by Brady in that time, including 8-1 in the playoffs.

Clearly, Kellerman's prediction was slightly off. It's led to Kellerman becoming the butt of many jokes.

And on Thursday, Brady let the world know that he too is aware of the cliff take. Suffice it to say, even as he enters his age 42 season, Brady still doesn't see that cliff. Brady posted an image to his Instagram story, showing a radar gun reading of 61 mph and a caption that appears to have been directed right at Kellerman.

Tom Brady's Instagram Story
(Image via Instagram/@TomBrady)

In case you're wondering about velocity with regard to footballs, 61 mph would have been the hardest-thrown ball by any quarterback at the 2019 combine. In fact, Josh Allen is the only quarterback in the last decade to top 61 mph at the combine, according to OurLads' records. While the exact correlation to velocity and quarterback play remain up for debate, the fact of the matter here is that Brady's still got plenty of arm strength in that super-hydrated body of his.

Kellerman responded the only way he knows how: by posting a picture of Wile E. Coyote falling off a cliff.

Brady's post isn't particularly surprising. Last season was very much filled with Brady making comments about how few people believed in the Patriots, including his postgame interview after beating the Chargers in the divisional round.

"I know everyone thinks we suck and, you know, we can't win any games," Brady told Tracy Wolfson. "We'll see. It'll be fun."

The Patriots' social media team also used that win to throw down an aggressive dunk on Kellerman and the rest of the "First Take" crew.

Clearly, tapping in to whatever doubt may exist about the most successful sports franchise of the 21st century worked for the Patriots last year. Based on Brady's Instagram post, it appears the Kellermans of the world are still fueling their motivation, even after winning the Super Bowl.

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