After several incomplete passes in a row, Tom Brady again took out his frustrations on a Microsoft Surface tablet on Sunday.
Microsoft Surface tablet
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers overcame a seven-game losing streak against the New Orleans Saints during the game on September 18, with a final score of 20-10. Four of those games happened since Brady joined the Buccaneers in 2020.
Most of the scoring done by the Buccaneers happened in the fourth quarter. During the third quarter, a clearly frustrated Brady threw a Surface tablet to the ground as his team still hadn't scored by that point.
The team ultimately prevailed, and Brady apologized in a video on Twitter for breaking the tablet.
RIP Tom Brady's Surface tablet pic.twitter.com/drpqSo1Ul0
-- Gifdsports (@gifdsports) September 18, 2022
This isn't the first time a Surface tablet fell victim to an angry team member. In 2016, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick punted one from the sidelines, saying that Microsoft's tablets were undependable. Brady has destroyed at least one other after a series of bad plays as well.
Microsoft paid $400 million to the NFL in 2014 for the exclusive rights to have its Surface tablets be the only devices used during games. However, the change wasn't popular, and the tablets were called iPads by announcers on more than one occasion.
On one occasion in 2016, the Surface tablets stopped working altogether during a game, with Microsoft citing network issues.
Years after its launch in 2012, the Surface line of tablets still don't have much brand awareness, with CNN calling it a "Microsoft tablet" during its report on the game. Apple's iPads dominate in branding, and the name has become a generic term for most tablets by people outside of the tech world.