With his legendary playing career now over, Tom Brady had no excuse not to finally try some Turducken during Fox Sports’ NFL Thanksgiving broadcast. Yet after he tucked into the famous three-bird roast for the very first time – and gushed to TV partner Kevin Burkhardt that it was ‘amazing’ – fans had one slight issue. It was only turkey.
Unfortunately for Brady, what he and Burkhardt failed to realize when taking a bite out of two Turducken legs in the commentary booth is that this part of the dish merely includes the thigh joints of a deboned turkey. That means if he just ate the leg as it seems, the seven-time Super Bowl winner is still actually yet to eat Turducken; which consists of a deboned duck stuffed into a deboned chicken, further stuffed into a deboned turkey in its main body. ‘No duck or chicken in a turkey leg,’ one user replied to an NFL clip of Brady ‘enjoying his first Turducken’ on X.
Tom Brady enjoys his first Turducken 😂@TomBrady #MaddenThanksgiving pic.twitter.com/yoWEuNWT6G
— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2024
Another fan put: ‘You mean the turkey leg’. A third echoed the same thought by saying: ‘They both took a turkey leg. So they are only eating Turkey’. While another said: ‘Technically he just has the “Tur” in Turducken.’ Despite the strict diet he abided by during his football career, Brady has always thrown himself into a full Thanksgiving meal over the holiday period, according to his TB12 website.
However, the NFL icon’s long-time body coach Alex Guerrero says he typically enjoys ‘local, free-range turkey without antibiotics’ for his Thanksgiving meal. NFL players and broadcasters tucking into turkey legs and Turducken live on air dates all the way back to the days of John Madden and Pat Summerall on commentary.
The tradition, which is usually afforded to winning players on the field after games, started in 1989 when Madden awarded a turkey leg to defensive end Reggie White after the Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Dallas Cowboys in a 27-0 Thanksgiving win.
And eight years later the legendary ex-coach, who passed away in 2021, added Turducken to that tradition when a New Orleans Saints public relations staffer brought him some to try. Almost 30 years on Madden’s turkey and Turducken ritual remains an integral part of NFL Thanksgiving broadcasts.
