At Fanatics Fest, a three-day sports memorabilia industry convention in New York, Tom Brady featured on a panel about card collecting with, among others, his frenemy Logan Paul. At the end of the discussion, Brady and Paul got into an argument, facing each other down on stage like belligerent fighters before a weigh-in. After throwing a few shapes, the greatest quarterback of the modern era reached over and slapped the influencer-turned-wrestler hard on the shoulder. Only the intervention of burly Knicks centre Karl-Anthony Towns prevented the fracas going further.Twenty-four hours later, just as viral clips of that shemozzle were waning in popularity, the two faced off again at MetLife Stadium. Sitting alongside his three kids, each of whom wore Spain shirts awaiting the start of the World Cup final, Brady got into a brief war of words with the nearby Paul. Conveniently, a professional cameraman was on hand to capture a pathetic exchange where the one-time New England Patriot scowled at his nemesis and proffered the middle finger. Somehow, some way, that puerile encounter made its way quickly on to social media too.By that point, savvier folk had deciphered there was a game afoot. Paul and Brady’s ersatz enmity is apparently about padding out a feud storyline in advance of a potential showdown at some future WWE grotesquerie. Somebody who won seven Super Bowls across a record-shattering 23-year career in the NFL is lowering himself to pantomime shenanigans alongside a celebrity carbuncle – all in the service of fake wrestling. For a man 12 months off his 50th birthday to be debasing himself like this, cosplaying in some unseemly grappling grift, has inevitably prompted accusations that he has reached a certain stage.For most American males, the traditional trappings of midlife crisis involve splurging on an old-school muscle car such as a Corvette or a Mustang, perhaps acquiring some ridiculous-looking back tattoo or maybe even getting divorced and picking up a second trophy wife. Instead, this retired athlete worth an estimated half a billion dollars, with investments in everything from the Las Vegas Raiders to Birmingham City, and a successful second career as a television pundit for Fox, has developed a sudden taste for practised and very public tomfoolery. A curious turn of events that seems to indicate he misses the spotlight of the arena. A condition afflicting plenty of stars once the cheering stops.Former NFL player Tony Romo competing at the Invited Celebrity Classic at Las Colinas, Texas in April 2023. Photograph: Tim Heitman/Getty Images Last Thursday, Tony Romo carded an 82 in the final round to finish at 35-over and earn just $60 for 73rd place at the Wisconsin State Amateur. For 13 seasons, he quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys with such élan that some regard him as among the finest players never to win a Super Bowl. Famously described by Tiger Woods as one of the best celebrity golfers he’d ever teed up with, his performance in his home state championship, 32 shots behind the winner after four days, was disappointing. After all, this is somebody whose prowess once gained him a sponsor’s exemption into an actual PGA Tour event.Long before Brady signed for Fox, Romo was initially so good at co-commentary that CBS now pay him $18 million a year. Yet, hours after the 46-year-old walked off the 18th green at West Bend Country Club, he was pulled over on Interstate 43, failed a field sobriety test, and was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. A mugshot, replete with rueful smirk, went online, competing for eyeballs with folksy footage of Romo giving a kid tips on how to throw a football during a break in play at the golf tournament.Here are two successful men who used their talents with football and mike in hand to amass generational wealth. Stars of such wattage that, even in retirement, they remain as much in demand to endorse products as in their pomp. Turn on your telly during a game and you find Brady shilling for Dunkin Donuts one minute, Romo extolling the virtues of Skechers the next. Yet, all the money and the glory have not insulated them against the vulnerabilities and foibles that beset so many greats in their sporting dotage.Tom Brady attends Fanatics Fest 2026 in New York City on July 18th. Photograph: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Fanatics Drunk driving is obviously a much more serious offence than demeaning your legacy by being suckered into low-rent WWE flimflammery. But Romo’s erratic performances on television last season and his continuing secondary golf career – he pulled out of this week’s M&P Group Texas State Open following his arrest – reek of somebody uncomfortable with where they are, trying and failing to turn back the clock. Perhaps that is what Brady is at clowning around with Paul too, working a storyline that will ultimately return him to centre stage in a packed stadium, hearing the roar of the demented wrestling crowd. As the troubling antics of the superannuated quarterbacks garnered most headlines this past week, Jordan Devey made more important news. A 6ft 7in behemoth who played tuba rather than football in high school, he somehow carved out a career as a journeyman offensive lineman with several NFL teams. His finest moment came blocking for Brady when the Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX. In the five years since his last game for the Buffalo Bills, Devey battled mental health issues, was presumed to be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and took his own life in Idaho last week. A GoFundMe has been established to help his family. The 38-year-old is survived by his wife, four kids, and a sport that scars all and spares few.