Total Pro Sports
Cincinnati Bengals center Ted Karras opened up about an “embarrassing” moment Tom Brady orchestrated during their run with the New England Patriots.
A sixth-round draft pick out of Illinois in 2016, Ted Karras spent four years with Tom Brady in New England (2016 to 2019). The pair won four straight AFC East division crowns, three conference championships and Super Bowl 51 and 53 rings together.
But blocking for the NFL legend wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for Karras. During an appearance on former teammate Julian Edelman’s “Games with Names” podcast, Karras opened up on a time when Brady humiliated him in front of thousands of Patriots fans.
Loyal Patriots fans have heard the stories. Tom Brady refused to take the football from his center if they had a sweaty rear end. Oftentimes, Brady would get his center to shove a towel down their pants so that he wouldn’t have to…touch the sweat.
Karras, well, learned this the hard way:
“Tom takes all the centers to the side. If you’re going to play center at any point, even just an undrafted guy, he’ll teach you how to fold (your towel) and put it into your a*s. I was on Tom’s team and apparently too wet for him. He literally pulls me off to the sideline, screams in my face that I’m a sweaty pig. And then pulls my pants out and powders my a*s with baby powder in front of everyone…
I was kind of embarrassed. I mean, all the fans were looking, like 15,000 people at Gillette Stadium. But I would always just do whatever he said.”
Nothing Tom despises more than a wet center😂 pic.twitter.com/j66ge99WPI
— Games with Names (@gameswithnames) July 22, 2025
Whatever it took to win, we suppose.
Karras and Brady both left New England in 2020 free agency, signing with the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively. Brady spent his final three seasons in Tampa, while Karras returned to New England in 2021 before signing a multi-year deal with the Bengals.
No word yet on if Joe Burrow also makes Karras put a towel down his pants.
After a rocky first season in the broadcast booth, Brady is set to begin the second year of a $375 million NFL analyst deal he signed with Fox Sports in 2022. Brady will once again work on the network’s top team with play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporter Erin Andrews.
Also Read: Tom Brady’s NFL Legacy: Where Does The Former Star Rank All-Time?
