Tom Brady thinks the NFL is getting “a little softer”

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He might look young, but he thinks old.

Tom Brady, 44, in the latest installment of Let’s go! podcast, shouted at some clouds regarding his perception that football has become “sweeter”.

Asked by Jim Gray about the evolution of the position towards mobile quarterbacks, Brady turned into a rant out of my lawn about what the game has become.

“I think there’s probably a lot of myopia,” Brady said. “You know, when I hear that a lot, because I’ve heard over the years, you know, ‘Oh, the game is changing,’ and so on. I think the game is changing in different ways, absolutely. It evolves, changes and grows and hopefully improves. And at the same time, I think there have always been, you know, amazing athletes playing professional football at the quarterback position. Randall Cunningham was an incredible athlete. Kenny Stabler was an incredible quarterback. Roger Staubach was. Michael Vick, I mean, I don’t know if there is anyone more athletic that has ever played than Michael Vick. . . . I think it definitely adds an element to the game.

“But at the same time, the name of the game scores points. So there is definitely more volatility, I would say, in this style of play over a period of time. You are definitely more prone to injury because you are out of your pocket. You don’t have the kinds of protection you usually have in your pocket. And I would say the only thing that has probably changed over the years in terms of why it’s probably gotten a little bit more that way is, and I’ve hinted at it in the past, I think they call more penalties on defensive players for hitting, you know, for hard contact. And I think when you’re out of pocket, you know, we got called out on a game yesterday where Ryan Jensen is basically going to protect our runner and they throw unnecessary roughness at an offensive lineman that I don’t think would’ve been. called, you know, five years ago. There are a lot of plays and hits happening on the quarterbacks now, which are flags for defensive players, which probably weren’t the case 10 or 15 years ago. So I would say the game is a little smoother than before. I think defensive players are more defensive when attacking. And I think it probably adds to that element of quarterbacks outside the pocket and takes more risk, you know, than in the past. “

This sounds a lot like Brady’s recent comments that many of these fouls result from the offensive players’ inability to protect themselves, such as having quarterbacks throw a receiver in a big shot that will trigger a 15-yard penalty on defense.

Regardless, the game has changed. It all started in October 2009, when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith found themselves grilled on Capitol Hill over the game’s chronic failure to take injuries seriously. in the head. Combined with lawsuits from former players and a very real concern that parents won’t let their kids play the game at lower levels, the league has had to make some changes.

Brady’s comments underscore something I’ve been waiting for years. Eventually, someone with the money to buy an NFL team will instead create a separate league that embraces football the way it was, with players signing all of the documents they need to sign to waive any claims they have. they could do about the risks of playing in the 80s or 90s football. It would be much more brutal and shocking than the game today. (Even then, it wouldn’t be as violent as sports like MMA.)

With legalized betting creating an appetite for more sporting events, Brady’s point of view can only serve to push someone in the direction of creating an old-fashioned football league. It’s a possibility the NFL should definitely be concerned about.