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On Feb. 1, Tom Brady announced his retirement from the National Football League. Brady spent his career playing - and winning - with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New England Patriots.

In July 2021, the famed quarterback posted a video to his social media accounts showing him throwing around the pigskin. The catch? A football throwing machine, literally. 

In the video, Brady throws the ball directly into the spinning wheels of the throwing machine, and then the machine returns a perfect spiral to the QB.

A post shared by Tom Brady (@tombrady)

Even NFL insiders were shocked at his accuracy.

Was Tom Brady actually playing catch with only a football throwing machine?

No, the video was created with director Ari Fararooy, creative studio Warm & Fuzzy and produced by Shadow Lion, a creative media company.

On Instagram, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Tom Brady tagged Ari Fararooy and Shadow Lion for creating the film. Fararooy also shared the video in July 2021, and confirmed he directed the clip, creative studio Warm & Fuzzy did the computer-generated imagery (CGI), and studio Shadow Lion produced the footage.

A post shared by Ari Fararooy (@ari_fararooy)

Shadow Lion is a creative content services company founded in 2017 “with the goal of supporting Tom Brady’s off-field media efforts,” the website states.

Fararooy is a video director based out of Los Angeles, who produces “stylized work for brands and artists”, according to his website. He has worked with Brady on at least three different projects, each containing different elements of CGI effects. 

At the time the video was posted in July, Twitter user @CDisillusion, who has a verified account with more than 125,000 followers, tweeted two clips from the video to “explain why it’s fake.” He pointed out the background of the video “wobbles differently” from the rest of the video, and the isolation seen when the machine fell is further evidence it’s CGI.

I'm gonna explain why it's fake in the following 2 tweets, but then you have to promise to stop tagging me in this forever pleeease 🙏 https://t.co/ey1WOCvSq2

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