NFL legend Tom Brady had a harsh rebuttal to Baker Mayfield’s claims that players were stressed during Brady’s final season in Tampa.
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“I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings,” Brady said on the game broadcast between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles. “There was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn’t daycare. If I wanted to have fun I was gonna go to Disneyland with my kids.”
“There’s a way to approach this game…There’s high expectations for us, we have to make sure we go out there and deliver,” Brady added.
TAMPA, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 29: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former NFL player Tom Brady embrace prior to a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium on September 29, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. Tom Brady responds to Baker Mayfield’s claims that Tampa Bay players were unhappy when he was the Buccaneers quarterback.
Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
Brady didn’t hold back to the current Buccaneers quarterback. Mayfield has never won a Super Bowl, let alone been in one. The 29-year-old has just two playoff wins throughout his career.
On the “Casa de Klub” podcast, Mayfield revealed the unstable Tampa Bay environment under Brady.
“The building was a little bit different with Tom in there. Obviously, playing-wise, Tom is different. He had everybody dialed in, high-strung environment, so I think everybody was pretty stressed out,” Mayfield said. “They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football for guys who weren’t having as much fun.”
Mayfield went as far as claiming there was a negative psychological effect on players with Brady as the Buccaneers’ signal-caller.
“You hear some of the stories about if he didn’t like a certain play call and he didn’t like it throughout the week and they still call it in the game, there might have been a throwaway on purpose or throwing it at the running back or receiver’s feet,” Mayfield said. “There were a lot of mind games going on.”
The former NFL quarterback played three seasons with the team before he retired in 2022.
Brady led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl in 2021. He is the only quarterback to defeat Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl.
The six-time Super Bowl champion knows a thing or two about winning. It’s evident Brady believes fun and joy have nothing to do with being the best.
Mayfield led the team to the playoffs in his first year in Tampa Bay. He has continued the upward trend as his team has started the season with a 2-1 record.
The Buccaneers had a hefty lead over Philadelphia in the first half of the Week 4 matchup. The score is 30-16 in the final minutes of the third quarter.
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