So, just when you thought you’d heard everything about Tom Brady—the rings, the retirements, the avocado ice cream—he casually drops the fact that his dog is a clone. Yes, you read that right. The GOAT of the NFL is now dabbling in the cutting edge of biotechnology, and it all starts with his late pit bull mix, Lua.
As the NFL trade deadline buzzed with rumors and roster moves, Brady’s latest headline had nothing to do with quarterbacks or coaching—it had everything to do with science, sentiment, and a dog named Junie. In a statement timed with Colossal Biosciences’ acquisition of Viagen Pets and Equine, Brady revealed that Junie is not your average pup.
She’s a genetic duplicate of Lua, created through Colossal’s non-invasive cloning process, which involved a simple blood draw before Lua passed away in December 2023.
Now let’s zoom out for a second. Colossal Biosciences isn’t just your average biotech startup. These folks are talking about reversing extinction. Bringing back animals like the woolly mammoth. And now? They’re cloning the dogs of NFL royalty.
The company’s website reads like something out of a sci-fi epic—thundering mammoths, “ancestral heartbeats,” reawakening the wilds of Earth. But here it is, intersecting with a very real, very personal story from Tom Brady’s life.
Lua, once a familiar figure in paparazzi shots with Brady and his son Benjamin, was part of the quarterback’s world through his marriage to Gisele Bündchen and beyond. After her passing, the family decided to preserve a part of her—literally. Enter Junie.
And here’s where it gets even wilder. Not only did Colossal help give Junie life, but the company also claims its technology has led to the birth of three dire wolf pups. As in, creatures from a long-lost Ice Age past.
Now, the International Union for Conservation of Nature is a little skeptical about those claims, but Colossal isn’t backing down. Their whole mission seems equal parts Jurassic Park and Silicon Valley moonshot.
Brady’s connection to this high-tech animal revival mission is just one layer of the unfolding story. Is this the future of pet ownership? Are we about to see more cloned companions becoming the norm for grieving families—and maybe a few sentimental celebrities with the resources to make it happen?
Whether you’re fascinated, weirded out, or somewhere in between, one thing’s for sure: Tom Brady just brought a whole new meaning to the phrase “man’s best friend.” And if Colossal’s ambitions are any indication, this might only be the beginning.
