Newly retired and this time for good, Tom Brady did not take long to join the camp of ” it was better before. »
And especially when he was there, obviously.
Guest on the Stephen A. Smith Show on Monday, the seven-time champion quarterback was not kind when evaluating the 2023 version of the NFL.
“Mediocrity reigns in today’s NFL. I no longer see the excellence that I saw there in the past,” Tom Brady first explained.
No one is spared.
“The coaches are not as good. Young players are not developing as well as before. I think the diagrams aren’t as good. The new rules have created bad habits that prevent the game from running smoothly. The league has regressed in my opinion. »
Brady isn’t particularly specific about what he believes the NFL’s regression is. With 43.3 points per game on average, the attacks scored less for the fourth year in a row. This average is at its lowest since 2009. But it remains rather higher than what was achieved at the start of Brady’s career. The problem of “it was better before” still remains to define “the before” in question.
Tom Brady, tuned into nostalgia radio
What annoys the elders? Offensive players who have become too soft, obviously.
“I see players like Ray Lewis, Rodney Harrison, Ronnie Lott and guys who were impacting the game, any tackle they made would have been a penalty today. You hear coaches complaining about their players being tackled… Why don’t they teach their players to protect themselves? We were working on the fundamentals of that all the time. Now they try to have new rules all the time. Offensive players must protect themselves. It is not up to a defensive player to protect the offensive player. […]
I think the changes in the rules have allowed you to play peacefully, and if someone tackles you hard, there is a penalty. »
For a player whose career has probably been greatly prolonged by rule changes that have increasingly protected offensive players, the irony is palpable.
Training ? Not better
University? Unsurprisingly, that too was better in the Tom Brady era.
“I think college players were better prepared in my era than they are now. Because a lot of coaches change programs, and I would even say that there are no more university programs. There are a lot of college teams, but more programs that develop players. »
Players not disciplined enough, not collective enough, too absorbed by social networks… It’s all been there.
On the verge of shouting at the clouds.
