Wes Welker shared why he didn’t attend and was ‘disappointed’ in roast of Tom Brady
Welker said he was only invited to sit on the dais.
Many former Patriots players and fans of the team seemed to enjoy “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady,” but not everyone with past ties to the organization enjoyed Netflix’s comedy special.
Former Patriots receiver Wes Welker, who now works for the Dolphins as a wide receivers coach, expressed his dissatisfaction over the roast when he was asked during Miami’s minicamp if he had a favorite joke from the show.
“Not really, I was a little disappointed in the Brady roast,” Welker replied. “There was some funny stuff and everything, but you know, it was what it was.”
Welker didn’t tell reporters which joke or jokes he felt might have fallen flat, but he was noticeably absent from the event. He also explained why didn’t want to attend the roast.
“I was not asked to be a presenter,” Welker said. “I was asked to sit on the side and get roasted, which I’m glad I wasn’t there. To each their own, I guess.”
The setup for Brady’s roast was a bit different than other high-profile roasts. Some former members of the Patriots roasted Brady (Bill Belichick, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Drew Bledsoe, Randy Moss) along with comedians. But there were several more former Patriots players who were also on the dais that sat a row back and didn’t get to take the mic during the three-hour-long event.
Danny Amendola was among the notable former Patriots players who were sitting in the back row of the dais. Belichick included a jab at Amendola at one point in his set, but Amendola wasn’t among those asked to participate, so he didn’t get a chance to respond. That’s presumably the apprehension that Welker had before turning down an invite to the event, as nearly everything imaginable was joked about during the roast.
The reaction to the roast seemed to mostly be positive. However, Gisele Bündchen, Brady’s ex-wife, reportedly felt disappointed in the event, too. There were several jokes made about her and her divorce from Brady.
Brady also expressed regret in participating in the event shortly after.
“I loved when the jokes were about me,” Brady said on “The Pivot” podcast in May. “I thought they were so fun. I didn’t like the way it affected my kids.
“So, it’s the hardest part; the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and all of a sudden you realize ‘I wouldn’t do that again’ because of the way it affected, actually, the people I care about the most in the world.”
Welker played for the Patriots from 2007-12, emerging as one of the game’s best slot receivers. He was named an All-Pro four times, recording at least 100 receptions and 1,000 receiving yards in each season he was in New England.
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