Tom Brady Gets Backlash for Calling Bills’ Josh Allen an Ableist Slur

Tom Brady is drawing heat for a controversial comment made about Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

“Sometimes he played like a spaz, like a grade-schooler on a sugar high, but now he’s controlled the chaos,” Brady, 47, said during the Sunday, October 27 Fox broadcast of the Bills’ game against the Seattle Seahawks. “He’s like a storm coming into town, and you don’t want that storm coming into this town.”

Brady’s use of the word “spaz,” a phrase often used to describe people with disabilities in a derogatory manner, drew backlash from some viewers at home. 

“Did you hear Tom Brady call Josh Allen a ‘spaz’ in the first half of today’s Bills game?” one person responded via X. “Highly offensive to people who have  physical disabilities as well as their loved ones.”

Another wrote, “Brady really just said a player played “like a spaz.’ Ew.”

Brady also had his fair share of supporters, urging that use of the word wasn’t worth getting upset about. 

“People giving Brady s— for using ‘spaz’…. It’s newly deemed offensive,” one person wrote via X. “Not everyone is going to know that. Everyone is learning in this new world and deserve a little grace.”

Another viewer wrote, “Lol no way ppl really mad at Tom Brady for saying the word ‘spaz’ grow tf up stop being so soft.”

In June 2022, singer Lizzo removed the word “spaz” from her song “Grrrls” after catching heat for the lyric. 

“‘Spaz’ is a direct derivative of the word ‘spastic,’ used to describe a medical condition,” Jessica Ping-Wild, author of Ableist Language to Avoid And Acceptable Alternatives – Spaz Edition, told Billboard at the time. “When people use that term it’s always in relation to these medical conditions even if the intention is not there to be offensive.”

“Let’s make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language,” Lizzo, 36, said in a statement. “As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I overstand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally).”

Beyoncé also courted controversy for use of the term in her song “Heated,” a track from 2022’s album, Renaissance. 

“Spazzin’ on that ass,” the lyrics read, “spaz on that ass.”

After replacing the lyric in the song to “Blastin’ on that ass, blast on that ass,” Beyoncé issued a statement about the change. 

“The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” she said.