Tom Brady is set to turn things up a notch, and we’ll see him on TV more than ever before. But before he capitalizes on becoming a household name, he made a stop at The Stephen A. Smith Show and had all sorts of controversial takes on the state of football right now. His take stuck out like a sore thumb and stemmed from Jayden Daniels being declared as the starting quarterback of the Washington Commanders.

For Brady, this is the kind of “dumbing down the game,” which he cannot withstand. Ironically, some veteran analysts of ESPN’s Get Up couldn’t withstand Brady’s point of view. The take that probably stood out the most came from Tim Hasselbeck, who posed a sound analysis of what’s wrong with Brady’s analysis of the current state of football.

Tim Hasselbeck had a maverick approach to interpreting Brady’s words. “No, we’re starting rookies because they’re the most talented players, and coaches that are that are going to get fired if they don’t win enough games are staring at their roster and saying, ‘I need to play the most talented guy otherwise I’m going to be out of here looking for a job.”

This was the response to the 7x Super Bowl winner thinking that the league hurling rookies as starting quarterbacks is problematic. “I think it’s a tragedy that we’re forcing these rookies to play early,” is what the quote on the screen said and that’s what the ESPN crew gave their two cents on. From Brady’s POV, playing an inexperienced rookie means the coaches must “dumb” down their schemes too.

Sure, there is that pressure in the league. Think about what Jerod Mayo is going through while he has to handle Drake Maye, Jacoby Brisett, Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton. But Commanders situation is a bit peculiar because apart from Marcus Mariota, they don’t have anyone reliable.

Hasselbeck pointed out the fact when Brady took charge of the Pats, the offense used to be run heavy. He gradually improved over the line of scrimmage and what have you. “Did the passing game develop? Did he get better at the line of scrimmage? Absolutely. He and Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, guys like that absolutely did, but it did not start off that way.”

The year Brady became a starter, he threw for 2,843 yards and 18 TDs. Two decades later, Brady threw for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns. Similarly Brees became the starting QB, threw for 3,284 yards and 17 TDs and his career high was 5,476 yards and 46 TDs. As far as Manning is concerned, He tops everyone with 5,477 yards and 55 TDs at the peak of his career.

The problem with Jayden Daniels and other rookies, like Drake Maye, Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, etc, was that they didn’t have anyone to look up to. However, look at the players like Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, both of whom are Heisman Trophy winners. The USC QB threw for 4.075 yards and had 37 touchdowns the year he won the Heisman. While Daniels, hailing from LSU, had 3,812 passing yards and 40 passing TDs. He also had 1,134 rushing yards and 10 rushing TDs in that season!

We’ve seen them playing. QBs like Caleb Williams and Bo Nix are quick, really quick! They can read defenses well and even have a strong arm. Also, Drake Maye is showing promise in the New England Patriots as well. It’s not that bad, nor deep, to resort to take shot at the rookies. So, their coaches don’t have other options but to play them.

However, it does help to have a mentor. It’s what Favre was to Aaron Rodgers. What Rodgers was to Jordan Love and what Alex Smith was to Patrick Mahomes. Even Brady had Drew Bledsoe to show him the ropes.Unfortunately, the 2024 class of rookies don’t have a lot of options. Except for Michael Penix Jr. who can learn from Kirk Cousins. So, what did the GOAT say that aggravated half of the media space?

Is Tom Brady’s assessment a hard pill to swallow?

People didn’t know they were going to hear Brady drop so many bombs on The Stephen A. Smith Show. It’s going to be the talk of the town for a while. “I think it’s a tragedy that we’re forcing these rookies to play early. But the reality is, the only reason they are there is because we dumbed the game down, which has allowed them to play,” Brady said as he went on to bask in the glory days.

“We used to spend hours and hours in the offseason, 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,” explained Brady. “So, they’re just going to teach them where they’re at.”

As a 7x Super Bowl winner, we cannot deny his stance because it comes from more than two decades of experience. However, things have changed quite a bit since his exit from the league. As explained earlier, teams don’t have veteran options to play on the field. They have to make do with what they have. If the last resort is to “dumb down the game,” so be it.