Tom Brady on NFL quality of play, rules: ‘A lot of mediocrity’

Retired Tom Brady isn’t impressed.

With less than a full season out of the NFL, the iconic former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback criticized the league he dominated for 23 years on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” on Monday. game status. “

“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in the NFL today,” Brady said. “I don’t see the excellence that I saw in the past.”

Brady is a 15-time Pro Bowl selection, seven-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Super Bowl MVP and a member of the league’s All-Decade Team in the 2000s and 2010s. He is the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards (89,214) and touchdown passes. Ball (649).

Although there are several serious injuries to key quarterbacks, including the New York Jets’ Aaron Rodgers, the Minnesota Vikings’ Kirk Cousins, the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow and the Cleveland Browns’ De Shane Watson, but Brady believes it’s a different group of people who he believes are to blame for this being a major issue.

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“I don’t think the coaching is as good as it used to be,” Brady added. “I don’t think the development of young players is as good as it used to be. I don’t think the programs are as good as they used to be.

“Those rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the current performance of the game. So I just think I think the product isn’t as good as it used to be.”

Brady was also a three-time Associated Press Most Valuable Player and has been viewed as the poster child for quarterbacks over the past two decades. He was known for his elite competitiveness and fiery play on the field, often attacking officials as he sought calls after being hit.

“I look at a lot of players like Ray Lewis, Rodney Harrison and Ronnie Lott, and players who impact the game in some way – every hit they take is going to be a penalty, “Brady said. “You hear coaches complaining about their own players being tackled, but not necessarily — why don’t they talk to their players about how to protect themselves?

“Offensive players need to protect themselves. Defensive players aren’t supposed to protect offensive players. … I think a lot of the ways the rules work allow for that; you can basically play carefree and if someone hits you hard, it’s Will be punished.”

Brady, 46, will begin his career as a Fox Sports analyst during the 2024 NFL season, the first of a 10-year contract reportedly worth $375 million. While Brady’s coverage on Fox will focus on the NFL, he blames the structure of college football programs for any apparent shortcomings among professional young players.

“I actually think college players were better prepared when I came out than they are now,” Brady said. “Just because so many coaches are changing programs, I would say there aren’t even a lot of college programs anymore. There are a lot of college teams, but there are no programs to develop players, so when they get sent to the NFL, they might be very athletic. , but they don’t have many skills to become professional players.

“When I played at Michigan, I basically played in a college program that was very similar to a pro environment. When I see these different players coming in, they’re not as prepared as they were before, and I think the game is changing. That’s been proven over the past 12 to 13 years. “I think things have gone down a bit. “