Tom Brady “was a little distant”
16 August 2024
“Julio, I can’t say I’m on the same wavelength as most of these guys.”
Joe believes one could easily argue that Baker Mayfield was a better football player in 2023 than Tom Brady in 2022.
Not only did Mayfield have the better touchdown-to-interception ratio, Tampa Bay’s offense scored more points and Mayfield had an outstanding postseason, which was not the case with Brady.
This Joe thinks it’s easy to say Mayfield had a better season, but what do the players at One Buc Palace think about Mayfield vs. Brady?
This was addressed by Prickly Pete Prisco during his recent Bucs chat at CBS Sports HQ.
Prisco has been patrolling One Buc Palace this (and last) summer and is one of those who privately talks with players and management when he is on campus.
“When I was there, people actually told me they liked (Mayfield) more as a quarterback than Tom Brady,” Prisco said. “Tom Brady was tough; he was a little distant. Yeah, not as a player, but as a person, yeah. Not a bad guy, they like (Baker) better.”
Prisco was pressed by his colleagues on the show and refused to back down. His message was that the Bucs team is more connected to Mayfield than Brady because Mayfield is more of one of them.
Joe was intrigued, especially because Bucs players often said they were amazed that Brady was “just one of many.”
Regardless, Joe knows little about what it means to win big games against tough opponents in January and February, but perhaps that’s one reason Brady has become so disconnected from the Bucs since retiring.
