Former NFL Pro Bowler makes his opinion clear regarding Tom Brady's sideline outburst aimed at Buccaneers teammates
During Sunday's shocking loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was seen harshly chastising his offensive line before halftime.
At the time, they trailed 10-6 in a game they were favored by eight points. They would go on to lose 20-18.
Cameras clearly picked up the quarterback yelling at his silent blockers for several seconds, even picking up a bit of the audio. The future Hall of Famer has come under a bit of scrutiny for his treatment of his teammates.
Former Pro Bowl running back Thomas Jones, who played for the Buccaneers for one season in 2003, doesn't believe Brady's sideline explosion is concerning. In fact, he told TMZ Sports that he believes this happens with a lot of players:
"It happens with everybody. Football is a very emotional game, very emotional game, and if you're not playing with emotion, then you shouldn't be out there, because that means you probably don't want to win."
He continued, adding:
"That happens all the time. I know when people see it on TV and when they get clips of it, sometimes it's out of context, that's the nature of the game. That's the nature of the emotions of the game. That's definitely not Tom Brady's first time and definitely not his last time."
Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, the outburst didn't spur them to a dramatic come-from-behind victory.
Is Tom Brady's outburst an issue?
Had the Buccaneers come from behind and won the game (despite the fact that they were heavy favorites and probably shouldn't have needed a huge comeback anyway), the narrative surrounding the outburst would have been different.
Instead of being seen as a potential negative, it would probably be seen more as a quarterback motivating his team to play better en route to a comeback win.
The question is: Is either of those narratives accurate? Is Brady's explosion a concern and not helpful, or is it a huge motivator?
That ultimately comes down to how the offensive linemen feel. If they were motivated by his speech to play better, then that's the answer. If they felt bad afterwards and didn't want anything to do with their quarterback, then that's what happened.
Either way, Jones is right. This is not something new to the NFL nor is it new to Brady. He did it many times in New England, has done it many times in Tampa Bay and will probably continue to do it until he retires.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit TMZ and H/T Sportskeeda.