"Unretirement was a bad decision" - Pat McAfee wonders whether Tom Brady regrets delaying $375 million Fox job and returning to NFL
Tom Brady has had a few rough starts to an NFL season in the past, but nothing that compares to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this campaign. They are 3-3 and have lost three of their last four games. Outside of their 41-31 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buccaneers have failed to score 25 points in any of their other five games. They are averaging 20.2 points per game, which ranks 20th in the NFL.
On Monday, retired punter-turned-podcast host Pat McAfee discussed Brady and the Buccaneers' struggles. This came just after their surprise 20-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. He wondered whether the quarterback regrets returning to football instead of staying retired and working for Fox Sports as their lead analyst:
"[Tom Brady], who is the greatest of all time in everybody's eyes, could have retired and took a $375 million job with Fox calling games just a few months ago. Now everybody's saying this guy doesn't care about his team. He's not showing up at walkthroughs. He's missing this other stuff. His team stinks. He can't beat these people anymore. None of it looks good right now."
McAfee said he's hopeful that Brady can turn the tide, like he has in the past after a tough start. However, he believes the quarterback should have stayed retired:
"Tom Brady, I hope, is taking all this. And so he can come out on the other side even stronger. But it appears as if this on retirement was a bad decision at this point."
Pat McAfee Show co-host A.J. Hawk refuted the retired punter's take and claimed Brady will bounce back:
"I still think Tom loves ball. He wants to play football. I don't think his confidence is down anything. I think he wants to get things right and he's going to do whatever it takes to get him right. And I think who knows? We'll see if the rest of the team can come with him."
Watch the entire segment below:
Was unretiring a bad decision by Tom Brady...
#PMSIDontWantToOverreactBUT https://t.co/Oyk0daKo4B
Tom Brady shows signs of cracking under the pressure vs. Steelers
During the Buccaneers' narrow loss to the Steelers, Brady was seen yelling furiously at his offensive line. The quarterback shouted:
"We are so much better than the way we are f**king playing!"
Tom Brady with some words to his offensive line. https://t.co/qBqjD7vfKg
During the post-game press conference, Brady admitted that the team needs to improve, saying:
“I think we’re all playing less than what we’re capable of. We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out why.”
"We all got to do a better job."
🗣: @TomBrady https://t.co/H7mZnD8bzr
If this is Tom Brady's swansong in the NFL, it's not currently going as planned. But it's only Week 6 and there's plenty of time for the Buccaneers to turn the tide.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Pat McAfee Show, Buccaneers.com and H/T Sportskeeda.