Tom Brady Tells Stephen A. Smith There’s ‘A Lot of Mediocrity' in the NFL Today

Declan Gallagher
·2 min read
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Tom Brady issued a scathing rebuke to today’s NFL during an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show Monday night. The legendary QB, who played for the New England Patriots for 20 of his 23 seasons in the NFL, didn’t mince words when it came to expressing his feelings about the NFL’s current state.

“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL. I don’t see the excellence I saw in the past,” Brady said frankly. “I think the coaching isn’t as good as it was, I don’t think the development is as good as it was. The rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the actual performance of the game. I just think the product, in my opinion, is less than what it has been.”

Brady expressed some discontent with new rules designed to protect players that he sees as an impediment to the game itself. “I look at a lot of players like Ray Lewis and Rodney Harrison and Ronnie Lott, every hit they made would’ve been a penalty,” Brady told Stephen A. “You hear coaches complaining about their own player being tackled, [but] why don’t they talk to their player about how to protect themself?”

Brady went on: “We used to work on the fundamentals of those things all the time, now they’re trying to be regulated all the time. Offensive players need to protect themselves. It’s not up to a defensive player to protect the offensive player.”

Brady’s comments ignited much debate, but many seemed to be refreshed by his honest take. Former Denver Bronco Nate Jackson took to X (formerly Twitter) to back Brady. “Players don’t know how to protect themselves anymore because they assume the refs will do it for them,” Jackson lamented. “[That] encourages reckless play calling, poor offensive decision making and actually puts them in more danger. Also leads to bad football.”

46-year-old Brady is the NFL’s all-time leader in touchdown passes and passing yards. He’s also a three-time league MVP and has seven Super Bowl championships under his belt. Since retiring from the NFL, Brady has reportedly gotten into the best shape of his life and has gone on record to offer blunt financial advice to Shedeur Sanders.