Tom Brady decries NFL's quality of play: 'A lot of mediocrity'

Tom Brady, in retirement, is not impressed.

Less than a full season since he stepped away from the NFL, the iconic former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback criticized the state of play in the league he dominated for 23 years during an appearance Monday on “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”

“I think there's a lot of mediocrity in today's NFL,” Brady said. “I don't see the excellence that I saw in the past.”

Brady, a 15-time Pro Bowl selection, seven-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player and member of the league's All-Decade teams for the 2000s and 2010s, is the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards (89,214) and touchdown passes (649).

While there have been several significant injuries to key quarterbacks – including Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets, Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns – Brady thinks a different group of people are to blame for what he sees as a significant problem.

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“I think the coaching isn't as good as it was,” Brady added. “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.

“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.”

Brady is also a three-time AP Most Valuable Player and has been seen as the paradigm at quarterback over the past two decades. He was known for his elite competitiveness and fiery displays on the field, often directed at officials when looking for calls after he was hit.

“I look at a lot of players like Ray Lewis and Rodney Harrison and Ronnie Lott and guys that impacted the game in a certain way — and every hit they would have made would have been a penalty,” Brady said. “You hear coaches complaining about their own player being tackled and not necessarily — why don't they talk to their player about how to protect himself?

“Offensive players need to protect themselves. It's not up to a defensive player to protect an offensive player. ... I think a lot of the way that the rules have come into play have allowed this; you can essentially play carefree and then if anyone hits you hard, there's a penalty.”

Brady, 46, is set to begin his career as an analyst for FOX Sports during the 2024 NFL season, which will be the first of a 10-year deal worth a reported $375 million. While Brady’s coverage with FOX will focus on the NFL, he blames the structure of college football programs for any perceived shortcomings of young players in the pros.

“I actually think college players were better prepared when I came out than they are now,” Brady said. “Just because so many coaches are changing programs, and I would say there's not even a lot of college programs anymore. There's a lot of college teams, but not programs that are developing players, so as they get delivered to the NFL, they may be athletic, but they don't have much of the skills developed to be a professional.

“When I played at Michigan, I essentially played at a college program that was very similar to a pro environment. When I see these different players come in, they're not quite as prepared as they were, and I think the game has shown that over the last 12 to 13 years. I think things have slipped a little bit.”