Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 12 premiere "Who Can It Be Now?" Stream the premiere with a Hulu subscription and read at your own risk.
The Masked Singer returned to Fox's Fall TV schedule for Season 12, and as usual, the first reveal was a big one that was pretty easy to see coming. While the panel ultimately did correctly guess the Super Bowl-winning first contestant's identity, they initially mistook them for football legend Tom Brady. Leaf Sheep was sent home, and considering he was a Super Bowl-winning NFL quarterback, CinemaBlend had to get his thoughts on being compared to the G.O.A.T.
Brady wasn't the worst guess for The Masked Singer panel to throw out there. He's getting paid an exorbitant amount of money to commentate football for Fox, so I could easily see them offering a guest spot on the show to promote that further. As previously mentioned, it wasn't him, but I did get a chance to speak to the legendary quarterback who was underder mask, and get his thoughts on being compared to the arguable GOAT.
John Elway Was Unmasked As The Leaf Sheep
The Leaf Sheep stepped out of their uniquely shaped vehicle and was revealed to be John Elway, the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the Denver Broncos. Elway amassed many accolades over his career, but apparently never had the time for singing lessons. Elway confirmed to CinemaBlend that his swift exit was not a surprise, as he's well aware his vocal chops don't stack up to professionals.
How John Elway Felt Being Compared To Tom Brady
While Ken Jeong shockingly guessed John Elway as Leaf Sheep before the rest of the panel, the name Tom Brady was obviously also thrown out. I told the legend I couldn't help but chuckle when I heard Brady mentioned, even though he's an icon that many credit with the massive success of the New England Patriots. There was once a point where Elway was one of the most talked-about quarterbacks of the league, so I had to get his thoughts on being compared to his younger peer:
You know, that's a compliment because I have so much respect for Tom Brady and what he did in his career and the success that he had. Plus I've, you know, been out of football a long time, so, therefore a little bit dated. And so, it did not surprise me that the younger guys [were guessed] and like Tom Brady who, you know, as I said, I got a great deal of respect for. So I'm just glad Kenny [Jeong] ended up figuring it out, and they ended up picking me. That made me feel better, but no, I was not insulted. I actually didn't think they were gonna guess who it was, but Kenny ended up getting it.
John Elway noted that the panel got it right in the end but added that he was never insulted to be compared to Tom Brady. After all, Brady had the Netflix roast, is on television honing his commentating skills on Sundays, and posts thirst traps in between all that. Elway had his time to shine back in the '80s and '90s, and completely understands why the world might fall back on recency bias in thinking of other great quarterbacks.
Hats off to Elway for the honest response and for participating in The Masked Singer. As readers may know, contestants don't get paid much to be there, and he didn't have a tour or any upcoming project to promote. He went out of his comfort zone to do this just for the fun of it, and while he told CinemaBlend he wished he had more time to prepare, his unmasking still made for a great surprise to cap off the Season 12 premiere.
The Masked Singer airs on Fox on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET, so get ready for a fun season!