Tom Brady expands on 'mediocrity' comment about NFL

Retired quarterback Tom Brady generated headlines and went viral when he said during a recent appearance on "The Stephen A. Smith Show" that he thinks "there's a lot of mediocrity in today's NFL." 

Brady expanded on that take during the latest edition of his "Let's Go!" SiriusXM show and podcast. 

"When you try to control the game from the sideline, you don’t have the answer for everything that’s happening on the field," Brady said about coaches, per Conor Roche of Boston.com. "Ultimately, as a quarterback, I had all the things at my disposal to get us into a good play. … I had the ability to change the play to get us to a play that I thought would be more successful. I just don’t see as much of that in the NFL. There’s a lot less time that people are spending on it. That’s just the reality."

Brady famously guided the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships from 2000 through the 2019 season and then earned a seventh ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February 2021. The 46-year-old preparing to become Fox's lead NFL analyst next year received some criticism when he told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on Nov. 20 he believes, among other things, that "the coaching [in the NFL] isn't as good as it was" and does not "think the development of young players is as good as it was." 

During the "Let's Go!" segment, Brady shared what players at his position need to work on to reach their ceilings. 

"The more you can be decisive as a quarterback, the better outcomes you’re going to have, the better your process is going to be," Brady explained. "You want to be really decisive as a quarterback. You want to be really sure of what you’re doing. But you need to be sure of the gameplan, the protections, who’s responsible for who if they blitz, and where all of the receivers are going. All of that takes time. We’ve got to allow these guys time to develop."

Back in the spring of 2022, Hall of Fame quarterback and current analyst Kurt Warner warned that Brady will "have to figure out how to truly analyze and be critical of what’s going on but not be critical of people" as a broadcaster. Brady's "mediocrity" comments suggest he'll call things as he sees them from Fox booths, but he indicated on "Let's Go!" that he merely wants what's best for the sport and the league.

"I think the point is, you want to see the game continue to grow and evolve," Brady remarked. "That means better coaching, better quarterback play, and better defensive playcalling. I think a big difference too is the lack of time that coaches have with players, coaches have together in the building, people don’t understand the full picture a lot of the time."

Reactions directed toward Brady by players and other members of the NFL community over the past week show that people care what he has to say about the product in retirement. If nothing else, Fox executives are likely hoping Brady keeps speaking his mind through and beyond September 2024.