NFL Quarterback Tom Brady Sues Yahoo!

Careful where you place a face.

That's a lesson Yahoo might be learning, shortly after its recent legal troubles involving New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.  The three-time Super Bowl champion (who once dated Tara Reid, by the way), is angry that Yahoo used his likeness to promote its online fantasy football league.

Whether Tom's completely opposed to tame gambling or simply not proud of the picture in question is unclear.  But, it spells bad news and bad press for Yahoo.

The ad in question wasn't actually posted on the web, in fact.  Instead, Brady's unauthorized mug was presented in a September issue of Sports Illustrated (sadly, not the swimsuit edition).  (Source: news.com)

Brady's anger appears to stem more from Yahoo's profiting on the picture and not the nature of the photo in question.  Meaning?  The QB wants (more) money, citing online fantasy football as a $4 billion-plus industry.  Yahoo's dedicated site is actually the web's largest, drawing in some 4.4 million visitors last year alone.

Although Yahoo clearly ticked off Brady, it was careful not to mess with the NFL.  The ad in question features a few players (including the Pats' QB) in uniforms missing their official logo.  It's not yet clear whether the other players pictured will raise their own legal grudges.  (Source: thesmokinggun.com)

We're not sure how to interpret this lawsuit.  It can be taken that the NFL is doing well or not so well, depending on how you look at the suit.  On one hand, the fact that fantasy football is almost on par with the Canadian defense budget is impressive.  However, clearly the league isn't paying one of its star QBs quite enough dough.