Future Hall of Fame quarterback turned FOX Sports analyst, Tom Brady, chimed in on the Daniel Jones situation on the broadcast of the New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys game on Thursday afternoon.
“I don’t know how that whole situation went down but to think that you’d ask for a release from a team that committed a lot to you is maybe different from how I would’ve handled that,” Brady said, via the New York Post.
Easy for Brady to say. His career practically diametrically opposes that of Jones’. Brady was a late-round pick who rose to stardom in a stable, competent organization that competed for championships.
Jones was a high draft pick who burned through three head coaches and multiple coordinators in six seasons. He struggled to stay healthy and create his niche as the team failed him at almost every twist and turn.
When the Giants told Jones he would no longer play, not just lose his job as the starter, he asked what he could do to help the team. At practice that day, he was seen playing in the secondary on the scout team. He also was willing to help the others in the quarterback room.
That would only last a few days as he realized his best route was an early exit. He asked for his release and got it last Friday.
“I always felt I wanted to get the trust and respect of my teammates regardless of the situation, knowing that I was trying to be the best I could for the team because that was the most important thing,” Brady continued.
Jones did have the trust and respect of the team. Many of his teammates publicly questioned the organization’s treatment of him.
Unfortunately, Brady only saw how things ended for Jones, bypassing the six-year saga that saw him go from promising rookie to unfixable veteran.
“There’s just some different things that happen in the NFL,” Brady admitted.
But then he went back to what he would have done, which is irrelevant.
“Everyone makes individual choices. I think we’re all, at points in our career, faced with different challenges. I faced them in college — some things didn’t go the way I wanted, but the people that mattered the most to me were the guys in the locker room,” Brady said.
“I showed up every day — I didn’t care if they asked me to be the scout team safety, scout team quarterback, I was gonna do whatever I could to help the team win.”
Ah, but Brady never was in such as situation as a pro. His career went soothingly in New England, and then in Tampa. He was never incessantly booed and sacked and mocked the way Jones was.
Daniel Jones left the Giants, true, but not until after they left him.
