Denzel Washington may not be an actual football coach, but after recording a podcast with Tom Brady, the actor can now say he’s coached one of the greatest players in football history.
in a recent episode let’s go Washington appeared with Brady and reporter Jim Gray to discuss his acting career and the keys to his success over the years.
Washington and Brady also read lines from one of the most famous scenes in Washington’s films. remember the titans Movie: When coach Herman Boone introduces himself to his new team.
result? Washington probably owes Brady a video of the two playing football, because on the podcast one of the two is apparently a show professional and the other is… a former NFL quarterback.
The clip Brady posted doesn’t do Washington’s performance justice.
Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
Before reading their lines, Brady and Washington discussed improv and improv. Washington said he excelled in practice, but he hasn’t done much in practice during his career. Gray then asked Washington if he would be willing to do a reading as coach Boone.
“I have to bring my game face,” Brady said.
“Play good,” Washington said. “Let’s go, Tom.”
Then the two began to line up.
“Why are you laughing?” Washington asked Brady.
“Because I love football. Football is fun,” Brady responded.
In a (perhaps unintentional) homage to the scene, Washington repeatedly tripped over Brady’s words. The same thing happened to the character in the scene, Petey Jones (played by Donald Faison). Boone put Jones in a difficult position, asking him to answer a barrage of questions about whether he actually believed football was fun.
“It’s funny,” Washington (Boone) repeated. “But it’s not fun now, is it? Not anymore?”
“Not now,” Brady responded.
“What if it doesn’t work now?” Washington asked.
Brady paused, and a preoccupied Washington urged him to improvise.
“Come on, you’ve got to wing it,” Washington told Brady. “What if it doesn’t work now?”
“Not now,” Brady repeated.
Washington laughed.
“Not now, not now,” Washington said, returning to his true self. “Well, it’s not fun, it’s not fun, not now, not now. Make up your mind, make up your mind, while you’re thinking. Go on, think about it. Is it fun?”
After the scene, Brady applauded Washington.
“This is about your performance, not mine,” Brady said. “That’s great.”
“I’m coaching Tom Brady,” Washington replied. “You are joking?”
Washington has never played a big role as a reporter, but he still found a way to ask Brady a tough question after Brady joked that Washington was channeling his “inner Belichick.”
“Speaking of which, we’re talking now,” Washington said. “Have you talked to the coach?”
Brady began to answer what his relationship with Belichick was like, but Washington interrupted.
“How is he?” Washington asked. “What does he have?”
Of course, the Patriots currently have a record of 2 wins and 8 losses, one of the worst teams in the NFL.
Brady paused.
“I know he’s coaching the same way now as he was when we were undefeated,” he said. “Football is a tough sport, man. It’s like acting. You show up on set and there’s only so much you can do. There’s a lot that goes into making the team play a certain way. And you you’re One of them, you play one of your parts. You need people to write the script, you need people to shoot it right, direct it right, edit it right, score it right, market it right, release it at the right time, like ,’s***, how did this happen? Well, it takes a lot.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.