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Former Buccaneer Tom Brady Helps Welcome Soccer Star Lionel Messi To Miami

With Lionel Messi making the move to the United States, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Tom Brady helped welcome the star to Miami.

Kade Kimble

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Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest soccer player of all time, has officially made the move to the United States to join Inter Miami CF of the MLS. Of course, with a big-name star joining American sports, other stars in their respective sports helped welcome Messi to Miami.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star, and arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady made an appearance in Inter Miami's welcome video.

“Leo, I wanted to say congratulations on the big move to Miami,” Brady said in the video.

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This isn't the first time Brady has shown support for the Argentinian legend. He did so in 2018 ahead of the Super Bowl. 

"I love Messi, he is a great player; however, I am a little older than him. I love soccer, I've watched it for a long time and I'm not old enough to have watched Maradona, that's probably for previous generations. I admire him, he's a great athlete," Brady said.

The connection with Messi in Miami runs deeper for Brady, though, as he is known to be David Beckham's good friend.

Beckham made a similar move to Messi, bringing his soccer talents to America back in the day. A part of his contract was that he was able to buy a team, and that team ended up being Inter Miami CF.

Messi was introduced to the team and fans at DRV PNK Stadium on Sunday, despite a lengthy weather delay, after officially signing with the team on Saturday. 

Brady, who claims to be a soccer fan, has been active in the business world since retiring for the second time in February. It would be interesting to see how invested Brady is with Messi's new squad and the ever-growing MLS. 

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Kade Kimble
KADE KIMBLE

Kade has been covering a wide variety of teams ranging from the NFL to the NBA and college athletics since joining Sports Illustrated's FanNation in 2022.