Wayne Rooney Responds to Tom Brady's 'Unfair' Work Ethic Criticism in Viral Video

English soccer legend Wayne Rooney spoke publicly for the first time Thursday about future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady's criticism of him in the Prime Video series Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues.

Brady has been a minority owner of the English soccer club Birmingham City since August 2023, and Rooney served as Birmingham City's head coach from October 2023 to January 2024.

In a now-viral scene from the Birmingham City docuseries, Brady met with Rooney and watched him conduct a meeting with the players. Afterward, Brady expressed concern about Rooney, saying, "I'm a little worried about our head coach's work ethic. I mean, I don't know. I don't have great instincts on that."

Speaking Thursday on BBC Sport's the Wayne Rooney Show, Rooney expressed some disappointment over Brady's comments and gave his take on what went wrong at Birmingham:

"I think it was a very unfair comment. When I went into Birmingham, they were a mess really. The players weren't really the players who could take the club forward. I think Tom came in once, the day before a game, where the day is a bit lighter, and I don't think he really understood football that well at the time. Maybe he does now. ...

"What he does understand is he's a hard worker. That's why I'm really disappointed with the comment. Football is not the NFL. NFL works for three months of the year, players do need rest as well. So I think he was very unfair. I respect Tom Brady massively. He's one of the greatest, if not the greatest athlete of all time, and Birmingham do look like they're getting it right now, which is good. ... A bit disappointed, but nothing too serious, so move on."

While Brady is a seven-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Super Bowl MVP and quite possibly the best player in the history of American football, Rooney is an icon in his sport as well.

The 39-year-old former striker played professionally from 2002 to 2021, and he is best known for his time at Manchester United from 2004 to 2017.

Rooney scored 313 goals across all competitions during his career, plus another 53 goals as a member of the English national team.

On top of that, Rooney won five English Premier League titles and one UEFA Champions League title at United, and he was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2022.

As great as Rooney was as a player, who hasn't come close to finding that same level of success during his managerial career.

Rooney posted just two wins, four draws and nine losses at Birmingham City before getting sacked. He also posted losing records at Derby County, D.C. United and Plymouth Argyle, giving him a career mark of 45 wins, 46 draws and 87 losses.

In Rooney's defense, Birmingham City were mired in failure upon his arrival., having finished 17th or worse in the EFL Championship standings for seven straight seasons.

They bottomed out in 2023-24, finishing 22nd and getting relegated to League One, but things are finally looking up.

Birmingham City won the League One title in 2024-25 to earn promotion back to the EFL Championship where they recently began play for the 2025-26 campaign.

The 2010-11 season was the last time Birmingham City played in the Premier League, and while Rooney wasn't able to get them back there, Brady's team appears to be trending in the right direction.