Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield insists his perceived criticism of Tom Brady was “taken out of context” and reveals he talked with the seven-time Super Bowl winner before Sunday’s 33-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Mayfield appeared on the Casa de Klub podcast last week and claimed the Buccaneers locker room was a “high-strung environment” due to Brady who made everyone “pretty stressed out”.
Brady bit back when calling the Bucs-Eagles game for Fox Sports, saying: “I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings. So, there was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn’t daycare. If I was going to have fun, I’d go to Disneyland with my kids.”
Although the pair seem poles apart in their approach, Mayfield said there was no lingering bad blood when they spoke.
“I think a lot of that got taken out of context, and none of it was personal by any means,” said Mayfield. “It’s just what he demanded of the guys, and that’s the aura of Tom Brady. And that’s what he did to bring a championship here.
“Nothing personal, but yeah, talking before the game, he’s obviously happy for me and he knows the guys, so he knows how much I enjoy throwing to Mike [Evans] and Chris [Godwin] [because] he got to do the same. It’s fun to be able to talk about the same experience with a guy like that.
“He did it his own way and that’s why he has seven rings. So, not much else needs to be said.”
Time for @TomBrady‘s #LFG Player of the Game Award 🏆
Congrats to @Buccaneers QB @bakermayfield for his performance vs the Eagles! pic.twitter.com/ZmaiSoTsDg
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 29, 2024
Brady, who led the Bucs to Super Bowl glory in 2020, was welcomed back to Tampa with the home fans giving him a standing ovation when his face was shown on the jumbotron. And he became even more popular when he awarded Mayfield the Player of the Game award.
