Just a few months ago, Tom Brady officially announced his retirement from the NFL. Following a very disappointing season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 45-year old quarterback said goodbye.
After his college career at Michigan, Brady was selected by the Patriots with the famous 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. When Drew Bledsoe got injured, he received the opportunity by head coach Bill Belichick and the rest is history. Six Super Bowls won with New England and one more with Tampa to become the greatest player ever.
Now, the legend sparked a huge controversy by saying the NFL was currently mediocre. It all happened during a special appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show.
“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL. I don’t see the excellence that I saw in the past. I think the coaching isn’t as good as it was. I don’t think the development of young players is as good as it was. I don’t think the schemes are as good as they were.”
Alex Smith destroys Tom Brady
Alex Smith, former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, took notice of Brady’s comments and reminded him that he had just retired from that mediocre NFL and took advantage of a terrible AFC East.
“I love Tom, the Goat, but, he hasn’t been retired that long. He was just playing. He just won a Super Bowl in the current game (Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Is he discounting that one? Then, my biggest complaint with this. He played in the most uncompetitive division, I think, in NFL history.”
For almost two decades, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots absolutely dominated their division as there were never true franchise quarterbacks in the Dolphins, Bills or Jets.
Only a few years ago, when Brady left the Patriots and Josh Allen arrived to the Bills, that trend started to change. That’s why Smith doesn’t agree with Tom’s take on NFL’s mediocrity.
“I mean, you come out of training camp, the biggest cupcake division. You got a ticket to the playoffs right away. Like, talk about mediocre. I completely disagree with this. I know he’s referencing the rule changes over the middle to the receiver, but, in my opinion, I think the game’s gotten better.”
Tom Brady says the NFL is mediocre
Tom Brady indeed emphasized the rule changes are a big part of this new NFL. “The rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the actual performance of the game. So I just think the product in my opinion is less than what it’s been.”
However, Smith doesn’t believe that’s enough to criticize the entire league. “There’s more parity across the league. Quarterback play is at an all time high. You’ve the best athletes playing the position. We didn’t have this 30 or 40 years ago. He’s referencing also that offense is down. Like, the numbers this year. To me, I kind of think we’re in a golden age of defensive linemen.”