There are two basic realities regarding a roast. One, the jokes routinely seem inappropriate. Two, comedy is subjective.
That said, the Tom Brady roast “went there” more than a few times regarding a topic that perhaps should have been off-limits — especially if the whole Kraft/massage thing was on the wrong side of the line in Brady’s estimation.
The subject was Aaron Hernandez. His murder(s) and his suicide were fodder for various cracks throughout the night. Even Brady made one.
Again, that’s how roasts are. Also, and again, comedy is subjective. But, man, the Hernandez stuff felt like it went a little too far.
He killed at least one person, possibly two more (he was acquitted, but still). He killed himself in prison. It was a tragedy for the victims. It was a sad chapter for the NFL and the Patriots.
For most of the off-color and/or below-the-belt jokes at a roast, the butt of the joke has a voice in the process. That makes it seem a little more fair. Making fun of the dead guy for the circumstances that made him dead was weird at best, wrong at worst.
One last time, that’s how roasts are. I get it. But as Brady ponders how it went last night, there’s surely some part of him that regrets allowing the Hernandez jokes.
Unless Brady really is a botox-and-hair-plugs cyborg incapable of human emotion. Which remains theoretically possible.