Texas floods: Myriad of misleading claims besiege Tom Brady in aftermath

Rumors that circulated online in July 2025 claimed former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl winner, donated millions of dollars to victims of the Texas floods and also personally rescued people and pets, paid victims' funeral expenses, attended funerals and handed out supplies. Officials said the flooding, which occurred over the Fourth of July weekend, killed more than 130 people — mostly in Kerr County — and that around 100 people remained missing.

However, searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo found no news media outlets confirming the news about Brady and the floods. Prominent news media outlets would have widely reported these rumors, if true.

Rather, the person or people who promoted the rumors fabricated the tales as some of at least hundreds of inspirational stories that depicted famous people — such as MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, singer Jelly Roll, WNBA star Caitlin Clark and many others — all performing acts of kindness. Those users, which Facebook identified as mostly based in Vietnam, aimed to earn advertising revenue on ad-filled articles linked in Facebook posts that often included content generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

Snopes contacted by email a representative for Brady to ask if they wished to share a statement, including confirming none of the rumors were true, and will update this story if we learn more information.

Claims said Brady donated millions to flood victims, attended funerals

As one of many examples of the false posts, on July 6, a user managing a Facebook page named NFL Legend posted (archived) that Brady donated $3 million to flood victims. The post further said he sent a letter to the parents of the 27 campers and counselors killed at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp in the path of the floodwaters.

An ad-filled article linked in the post also claimed he provided them with silver charm bracelets inscribed with the names of the victims. Reverse image searches confirmed the post displayed authentic pictures of Brady, flooding devastation and people comforting each other and crying.

(NFL Legend/Facebook)

Other Facebook pages hosted posts telling similar fabricated stories, also leading to ad-filled articles. For example, one post claimed Brady donated $1.7 million "to help cover funeral expenses, provide trauma counseling for survivors and support first responders working round the clock" (archived). Another post said he gave $20 million "to support flood victims in Texas to build 200 houses and provide food" (archived).

Sightengine.com's AI-detection tool concluded with a 99% likelihood that the image of Brady wearing a ring on his little finger, commonly called the pinky finger, in the former post was AI-generated. That image was part of a collage that also displayed authentic pictures of flood victims.

(Gridiron Master/Facebook)

The page transparency tab of the NFL Legend Facebook page, as well as the two other pages, listed their page managers as residing in Vietnam and other countries, including the Philippines. Vietnam and the Philippines sometimes appear as the source of these types of AI-driven, fictional and monetization-based stories.

Additionally, on the subject of victims' funerals — a subject featured in one of the aforementioned posts — some Facebook users shared (archived) fake pictures of Brady attending and crying at funerals, including one for 8-year-old Camp Mystic camper Kellyanne Lytal.

(Mexican Word Of The Day/Facebook)

AI-generated images show Brady rescuing victims

On July 10, a user managing the Facebook page named NFL Fans Tracker, also mostly managed from Vietnam, posted (archived) an AI-generated image showing Brady carrying an elderly woman in floodwaters.

(NFL Fans Tracker/Facebook)

A Bluesky user shared (archived) a similar fake photo showing Brady wearing a New England Patriots uniform and carrying a brown box labeled "disaster relief."

At least one Facebook user also posted (archived) an AI-generated video showing Brady attempting to walk through floodwaters.

'Gronk,' dog rescue and Cruz confrontation

One of the other fictional stories users shared in the aftermath of the floods featured an AI-generated image showing Brady and former teammate Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski in a boat readying to help victims. That post (archived) appeared on the Gridiron Master Facebook page — another page also mostly managed from Vietnam.

(Gridiron Master/Facebook)

A different post (archived) from the NFL Legend Facebook page falsely claimed Brady rescued a dog and decided to become his owner. Once again, the post featured AI-generated images.

(NFL Legend/Facebook)

The NFL Legend page also hosted a post (archived) telling a fabricated story about Brady confronting U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex, for being absent in the aftermath of the flooding.

(NFL Legend/Facebook)

These stories all very much resembled glurge, which Dictionary.com defines as stories "that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental."

For further reading, Snopes previously reported on another rumor claiming Brady owned a yacht larger than the Titanic.