Tom Brady won his sixth Super Bowl in February to eclipse the record he shared with Charles Haley

When protesting fans gathered to throw beans at a Tom Brady jersey, the legendary New England Patriots quarterback may have started to have second thoughts over his plan to trademark a nickname.

NFL's record six-time Super Bowl champion had provoked criticism from fans of baseball team New York Mets - vented via Boston's finest legumes - for his attempt to take ownership of the tag 'Tom Terrific'.

That's because the nickname - in the eyes of Mets fans at least - belongs to their former Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, who represented the side from 1967 to 1977.

Cue footage of former Mets players Ed Kranepool and Art Shamsky watching on as unhappy fans threw Boston baked beans external-link at a Brady jersey and photo.

quote I don't like the nickname. I was trying to keep people from using it, because some people wanted to. Tom Brady

Brady has now insisted he wants to patent the name not because he likes it and wants to emblazon it on T-shirts or mugs - but because he actively dislikes it.

"I don't like the nickname. I was trying to keep people from using it, because some people wanted to," he explained.

"I don't like when people give me many nice compliments, certainly that one."

The 41-year-old quarterback applied for the trademark in May and said he did not mean any "disrespect" to Seaver, a three-time receiver of Major League Baseball's award for the best pitcher.

Yet Brady, who claimed a record sixth Super Bowl triumph against Los Angeles Rams in February, was told he "should stay up in New England," by New York congressman Peter King because "there's only one 'Tom Terrific', and that's Tom Seaver".

Brady said he would "try to do things a little different in the future" and described the situation as "unfortunate" but a "good lesson learned".

"I was trying to do something because I didn't like the nickname. Then it got spun around to something different than what it is," he added.

A decision, considered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, could take several months.