T-Mobile claims one of its Super Bowl commercials starring Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski was rejected due to a protected rights deal with the NFL’s official telco sponsor, Verizon.

The 60-second spot flashes back to a conversation between Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski where Gronkowski is encouraging Brady to retire from football. But due to poor cell phone service, Brady interprets the conversation as Gronkowski encouraging him to go to Florida and to take him with him. Hence, how they both ended up on the Tampa Bay Buccanners, who will be taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in the Big Game this weekend.

While Verizon is not explicitly mentioned in the commercial, the assumption is Brady’s terrible cell service comes from T-Mobile’s biggest rival. T-Mobile is also referring to itself as #TheGOATin5G. Of course, referring to the phrase “greatest of all time.”

CBS and NFL spokespeople declined to comment. It's worth noting that banned ads are not new to the Super Bowl stage, with some marketers submitting commercials they know won't pass muster to generate publicity.

According to T-Mobile, the ad got banned even after edits because of “the protected rights deal” with the “official telco sponsor.”

T-Mobile will still have two other 60-second commercials in the game, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Verizon released a teaser of its Super Bowl commercial today, introducing a new animated character in a spot that resembles a video game. Verizon partnered with Fortnite as part of its campaign promoting 5G.

Historically, these two brands have had very public feuds during the Super Bowl. Last year, Verizon put out a video ahead of the game stating its 4G network is more than twice as fast as T-Mobile's 5G network. T-Mobile's then CEO John Legere responded in a blog post criticizing the limited range of Verizon's 5G. 

T-Mobile’s 2020 Big Game commercial featured comedian Anthony Anderson switching his mother's cell phone plan from Verizon to T-Mobile because “it’s the only one to offer nationwide 5G.”