Oh, The Horror! Awful Announcing Gets Butthurt Over Tom Brady Saying Josh Allen Used To Play Like A 'Spaz'

Usually when I write, I rarely take the subject matter of my articles personally. But this one, this one is different.

Before I begin, I must say I’m a huge Tom Brady fan. I know that alienates me from everyone outside of New England and Tampa Bay, but he’s freaking awesome. I spent most of my childhood watching this guy destroy the league and win game after game and title after title, often in the most legendary of circumstances. He’s my man, and I’d love to meet him someday. But someone came after him in an op-ed, and that got me all fired up.

Yesterday, the G.O.A.T was on call for Fox Sports covering the Buffalo Bills vs. Seattle Seahawks game. In the first quarter, Brady highlighted Josh Allen’s maturity as a player over his seven-year career, specifically how he has learned to play with more control and poise as time has progressed. However, some people have gotten butthurt over the words he used to describe his development.

"Sometimes he played like a spaz, like a grade-schooler on a sugar high, but now he’s controlled the chaos. He’s like a storm coming into town and you don’t want that storm coming into this town," Brady said.

Not only did Brady drop (in my opinion) a hilarious one-liner about Allen’s playing style, he complimented him in a way that made Allen seem like a force to be reckoned with (which he is). But Brandon Cortes of "Awful Announcing" found something deeply, deeply offensive about Brady’s analysis.

Cortes tried to make it seem like Brady was saying Allen had a physical handicap, and his argument for how this happened is just plain loopy.

"‘Spaz’ was a strange choice by Brady. It’s a term that has been deemed wildly offensive in the UK  because of its history as an ableist slur for people with disabilities, especially cerebral palsy. The term isn’t considered quite as offensive in the United States, but it’s still meant as an insult to describe clumsiness, stupidity or physical ineptness," Cortes wrote.

I’m still waiting to hear what the problem is. But that’s all Cortes gave us to go off, so I’ll get on my soapbox and defend my quarterback now.

When I hear the word "spaz," I think of someone who acts out of control and frequently displays immaturity (especially emotionally) or clumsiness of thought. My interpretation is similar to how Merriam-Webster defines "spaz:" a slang word that means "one who is inept" ("klutz" is listed as a synonym). 

Thinking back to watching Allen play in his early days, Brady’s comments seem to be hitting the mark - especially since he added the "grade-schooler on a sugar high" comment to add further clarification. However, I didn’t watch Allen a ton in the early years of his career, but I have some amazing friends that are diehard Bills fans who certainly did. As such, I asked them what they made of Brady’s comment.

Even a bunch of Bills fans said the meaning Brady's "spaz" comment was pretty accurate. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Andy McCoy (who identified himself as a "noted Bills expert and Josh Allen whisperer") said while the word choice might not have been great, he nonetheless gets the meaning behind it. I should also note that, before he saw what Brady said, Andy told me people in Buffalo called him "sugar-high Josh" early in his career. Sound familiar?

His brother Ben (who is a stud at ultimate frisbee and life in general), said basically the same thing: could have used a different word, but the thought behind it is generally accurate.

Not only did Bills fans not get overly annoyed by this, they agreed with Brady (what a time we live in, Bills fans are siding with Brady!). That, coupled with the American definition of the word, shows that all signs are pointing to the fact that Cortes was really scraping the bottom of the barrel here to try to pick a fight with the G.O.A.T. (literally every NFL team in existence can tell you that’s a bad idea, except those freakin’ New York Giants). 

However, the real kicker is how the "The Britannica Dictionary" defines the word. You would think that this UK-based website would provide some credibility to Cortes’ claim about the British connotation of the word.

But, it didn’t. They define "spaz" as an American slang term for "a person who is very clumsy or awkward." Sounds like Josh Allen in his early years to me. 

Just a side note, why the heck do we care what the Brits think about the word? Brady isn’t talking to a British audience, so he shouldn’t care about what may or may not offend someone on the other side of the Atlantic.

I’ll get off my soapbox now. The lesson is: Don’t pick on Brady for a useless reason unless you want to lose, and have a diehard fan and part of Bills Mafia rush to his defense. 

What a spaz Cortes is, am I right?