The NFL’s most successful quarterback of all time is now sounding off on the way that the league treats rookie quarterbacks in the modern era. Tom Brady believes that many young stars are not being properly coached and dealt with for them to achieve sustained success in the league.
Tom Brady Sounding Off On Treatment Of Young QB’s In the NFL
Brady himself is known for having tons of incredible supporting figures around him from day one of his college career all through the entirety of his professional dominance.
Specifically, from the beginning of his collegiate career through the beginning of his NFL career, Brady credits many individuals with helping him learn not only a deeper understanding of the game and all it entails but more importantly, he learned about life and what it means to be the leader of men in the NFL.
When appearing on the Stephen A. Smith Show, Brady went on a tangent about how the modern NFL treats young quarterbacks in a terrible way. Specifically, he thinks that the system, or the lack thereof, is doing a major disservice to young quarterbacks by not developing them in a way that creates sustainable success.
Brady called the modern way a “tragedy” that rookies are forced to play immediately and for many of them it is way before they are ready to take on an NFL defense. He says the game itself has been “dumbed down” for these young guys to be able to play right away, and that is a real disservice to the long-term success of these quarterbacks.
“I think it’s just a tragedy that we’re forcing these rookies to play early,” Brady said. “But the reality is the only reason why they are is that we’ve dumbed the game down, which has allowed them to play.”
He went on to explain that college programs used to develop these guys over four or five years and develop them into a pro-style system. Now the players want to start games right away and the coaches are capitulating.
“We used to spend hours and hours in the offseason, in training camp, trying to be a little bit better the next year,” Brady said. “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.”
WOW: TOM BRADY SHREDS THE MODERN DAY #NFL FOR RUINING YOUNG QUARTERBACKS & not developing them pic.twitter.com/FsZba97R28
“I didn’t start my first year. ITHINK ITS A TRAGEDY THAT WE ARE FORCING THESE ROOKIES TO PLAY EARLY, because we dumbed the game down to allow them to play.”…
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) August 20, 2024
“There used to be college programs,” Brady said. “Now, there are college teams. You’re no longer learning a program, you’re learning a playbook.”
Tom Brady Is Right… For The Most Part
Brady is completely correct based on all of the data we have seen in the history of the league. While there have been outliers to the rule, almost all of the most successful quarterbacks in the history of the game did not play right away, and with outliers like Peyton Manning, he was developed over his first few seasons and was allowed to throw one interception after another in his progression to becoming an all-time great.
Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Steve Young, Phillip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Dan Marino, Drew Brees, Phil Simms, Kurt Warner, Kirk Cousins, and Michael Vick, are all prime examples of what Brady is trying to say. All of these great quarterbacks, some being the greatest ever, waited and developed before taking on the best football players in the world. Many of these men also achieved sustained success in the league.
There have been outliers, like Peyton, Joe Burrow, Andrew Luck, Matthew Stafford, and that list goes on as well. But there is a major difference between the two lists, and for the most part, sustained success at the quarterback position is built through development not by rushing a young prospect into the fire. Sadly, because of what Brady is saying, we will inevitably see many young quarterbacks fail because of not taking the right amount of time to develop.
Related: Tom Brady Ranks His Top Five NFL Quarterbacks Heading Into 2024 Season
