Tom Brady fires back at Baker Mayfield over claim that Buccaneers were “stressed out” during his time in Tampa Bay

Tom Brady pushed back on Baker Mayfield‘s claim from earlier this month that “everybody was stressed out” during his three-year tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brady, who returned to Tampa in the FOX broadcast booth for the Buccaneers’ (2-1) Week 4 home contest against the Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) on Sunday, rejected the notion that he brought upon a stressful environment while he was there, seeing that they hoisted a Lombardi Trophy in 2020. The seven-time Super Bowl champion added, “This wasn’t daycare. If I wanted to have fun, I was going to go to Disneyland with my kids.”

“I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings,” Brady said, via Zac Blobner of 95.3 WDAE in Tampa. “There was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn’t daycare. If I wanted to have fun, I was going to go to Disneyland with my kids. … There’s a way to approach this game and it’s with the right mindset to try to push each other outside our comfort zone and great teammates do that. You come in, I have someone like [Rob] Gronkowski, I have someone like [Mike] Evans. There’s high expectations for us, we gotta make sure we go out there and deliver.”

Deliver the Buccaneers did, as Brady led Tampa Bay to a 32-18 record and three consecutive postseason appearances from 2020-22. Prior to his arrival, the Buccaneers had missed the playoffs in every season going back to 2007. Brady was certainly the catalyst, as he threw for 14,643 yards and 108 touchdowns in Tampa Bay.

Baker Mayfield makes bold claim about Tom Brady’s time in Tampa Bay

Brady retired after a tumultuous 2022 season, in which the Buccaneers won the NFC South with an 8-9 record before getting blown out in the NFC Wild Card Round by the Dallas Cowboys. Tampa Bay signed Mayfield to a one-year deal the following offseason, and he proceeded to lead the Buccaneers to a third consecutive NFC South title and guided them to the NFC Divisional Round.

Speaking on the “Casa De Klub” podcast, Mayfield said the Buccaneers wanted him to come in to “bring the joy back to football for guys who weren’t having as much fun.”

“The building was a little bit different with Tom in there. Obviously, playing-wise, Tom is different. He had everybody dialed in, high-strung environment, so I think everybody was pretty stressed out,” Mayfield said. “They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football for guys who weren’t having as much fun.”

Mayfield and Brady exchanged pleasantries on the field before Sunday’s game. With Brady calling the game from the booth, Mayfield showed out during the first half. He completed 22-of-33 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. The Buccaneers hold a 24-7 lead over the Eagles.

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