Former quarterback Tom Brady believes there is too much “mediocrity” in the NFL.
The man who retired at the end of the 2022 season expressed his opinion during his appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” podcast on Monday.
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“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in the NFL these days,” said the holder of seven Super Bowl rings. I no longer see the excellence that I saw in the past.”
“I don’t think the coaching is as good as it used to be. “I don’t think the development of young players is as good as it has been,” Brady continued. The regulations allowed many bad habits to become entrenched in our sport. In my opinion the product is simply worse than what it once was.”
Furthermore, the 46-year-old believes that attacking players need to learn to protect themselves instead of relying on referees to do so.
“We hear coaches complaining about their player being attacked. Why don’t they explain to this player how to protect himself? We used to constantly work on the fundamentals of these things. Today they are constantly trying to be regulated.”
“The offensive players have to protect themselves,” Brady added. It is not a defender’s job to protect an opponent. A defending athlete must protect himself. I didn’t throw the ball in some areas because I was afraid some might get knocked out. It’s reality. I didn’t throw the ball up the middle when I played against Ray Lewis because he would have laid it [mes receveurs de passes] KO and I couldn’t afford to lose a good element.”
The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will begin a second career in football in 2024 as he will serve as an analyst for games broadcast on the FOX network.