Tom Brady doesn’t like what he’s seeing in the NFL after 11 weeks. Not really.
Injuries, questionable penalties, scuffles between teams before games start, among other things, irritate the newly retired and future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL. I no longer see the excellence that I saw in the past,” the legendary defender recently lamented in an interview with The Stephen A. Smith Show.
“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL” – @TomBrady pic.twitter.com/xyZ1q3ztUg
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith)
November 21, 2023
“I don’t think so training to be as good as before,” he condemned. “I think the development of young players is not as good as it used to be. The rules allowed many bad habits to become entrenched in sports. I just think that the product, in my opinion, is inferior to what it was. »
Former star player New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneerswhich is now a minority owner Las Vegas Raiders, particularly believes that players should be more responsible for their own safety. According to Brady, the new rules introduced to give them better safety on the field have stripped the sport of one of its key elements. Yesterday’s stars could no longer be dominant if they played today.
“I look at a lot of players like Ray Lewis, Rodney Harrison and Ronnie Lott, guys who have influenced the sport in some way. Any attack they made would be punished. We hear coaches complaining that their own player is being attacked. Why don’t they explain to their player how to protect themselves? We’ve been constantly working on the basics of these things. Today, they are constantly being tried to be regulated. »
“Offensive players have to protect themselves,” Brady added. “It is not up to the defender to protect the attacker. The defender must protect himself. I didn’t throw the ball into certain areas because I was afraid the players would be knocked out. That’s the reality. I didn’t throw the ball up the middle when I played against Ray Lewis because he would have knocked them out. and I couldn’t afford to lose a good player. »
A seven-time Super Bowl champion, Brady retired from football for good in February 2023.
Brady holds the NFL records for passing yards (89,214) and touchdown passes (649). He is also the only player in history to win more than five Super Bowl rings and to be named NFL Finals MVP five times. Brady has also been named NFL Most Valuable Player three times.
