Tom Brady paused his analysis duties in the Fox commentary booth on Sunday to respond to Baker Mayfield’s comments about the Super Bowl champion’s time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Mayfield is Brady’s long-term successor in Tampa after signing a contract extension with the Bucs in March. Earlier this month, Mayfield spoke about how he differed from Brady in personality.
“The building was a little bit different with Tom in there,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, playing-wise, Tom is different. He had everybody dialed in, high-strung environment, so I think everybody was pretty stressed out. ... They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football, for guys who weren’t having as much fun.”
Wild: Tom Brady responds to claims from Baker Mayfield that #Bucs players "weren't having fun" playing alongside him:
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 29, 2024
"I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings.If I wanted to have fun, I was going to go to Disneyland with my kids." 😳pic.twitter.com/GDfaCgUdd2
Brady, who led Tampa to a Super Bowl victory in the 2020 season, is now an analyst with Fox. He addressed Mayfield’s comments while covering the Bucs’ win over the Eagles on Sunday.
“I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings,” Brady said. “So, there was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn’t daycare. If I was going to have fun, I’d go to Disneyland with my kids.
“There’s a way to approach this game and it’s with the right mindset to try to push each other outside our comfort zone, and great teammates do that. You come, I have someone like [Rob] Gronkokwski, I have someone like [Mike] Evans – there’s high expectations for us. We gotta make sure we go out there and deliver.”
After Sunday’s game, Mayfield, who is yet to win a Super Bowl, said his comments had been misinterpreted.
“I think a lot of that got taken out of context, and none of it was personal by any means,” said Mayfield. “It’s just what he demanded of the guys, and that’s the aura of Tom Brady. And that’s what he did to bring a championship here.
“Nothing personal, but yeah, talking before the game, he’s obviously happy for me and he knows the guys, so he knows how much I enjoy throwing to Mike [Evans] and Chris [Godwin because] he got to do the same. It’s fun to be able to talk about the same experience with a guy like that.”
Mayfield also acknowledged that Brady’s methods had led to results.
“Like I said – some things got taken out of context,” Mayfield said. “He did it his own way and that’s why he has seven [Super Bowl] rings. So, not much else needs to be said.”
Brady was greeted warmly by the home fans in Tampa when he was shown on the jumbotron on Sunday.
“I guess he gave us some good luck today,” said Evans. “The last time we played the Eagles with him was a playoff game that we won, so I guess it just brought back good memories and everybody felt like that too.”
