“It’s Just A Tragedy” – Tom Brady Believes The NFL Has Been “Dumbed Down” To Allow Rookie Quarterbacks To Start

Tom Brady on his soapbox. The 7-time Super Bowl winner has said pretty much whatever he wants since retiring (again) from the NFL. Tom has reached the point where he's sitting on his figurative front porch with all of his rings and yelling at the youth about how things were better back in his day. Despite constantly warning the younger generation that he could always come back and show them he's still got it, Brady suggests that today's version of the NFL is a lot softer and much easier than his playing days. In fact, in a recent interview on The Stephen A. Smith Show , Brady was critical of how simplified and streamlined things have become even at the college level, saying: "There used to be college programs. Now there are college teams. You're no longer learning a program. You're learning a playbook. And the program is ultimately - like at Michigan for me - that was a pro style program. Five years I got to learn how to drop back pass, to read defenses, to read coverages, to be coached. I had to learn from being seventh quarterback on the depth chart to moving up to third to ultimately being a starter. I had to learn all those things in college. That was development." I bet all those football-loving-dads out there just read that take about college sports and fist pumped in agreement. The game has certainly changed, both at the college and pro level, and Tom doesn't think it's for the better . He went on to continue on his rant, and even suggested that the NFL has become "dumbed down" as teams continue to push rookie quarterbacks into immediate starting roles: "Then I went to New England and I was developed by Coach Belichick and the offensive staff there. I didn't start my first year. I think it's just a tragedy that we're forcing these rookies to play early, but the reality is, the only reason why they are is because we dumbed the game down which has allowed them to play. It used to be thought of at a higher level. We used to spend hours and hours in the offseason and in training camp trying to be a little bit better the next year. But I think what happens is it discourages the coaches from going to deep levels because they realize the players don't have the opportunity to go to a deep level so they're just going to teach them where they're at." Some pretty strong words from the GOAT, and you can hear it all straight from the goat's mouth (see what I did there? exchanged horse with goat) in the clip below: https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/1825679304883073138?s=46&t=sK4ZxpXri80bfkXt_M8Cog