One of the more surprising storylines from Week 4 of the NFL season came in the form of Baker Mayfield’s comments about Tom Brady’s version of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s on-air response.
For the uninitiated, Mayfield stated on a recent podcast appearance that “everybody was pretty stressed out” during Brady’s three-year run in Tampa Bay and that the Bucs were looking for him to “bring the joy back to football” when he arrived in Tampa Bay in 2023. Calling his former team’s victory over the Philadelphia Eagles for Fox on Sunday, Brady responded in feisty fashion, stating: “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 wanted to have fun, I was going to go to Disneyland with my kids.”
Tom Brady responds to claims from Baker Mayfield that Buccaneers players “weren’t having fun” playing alongside him.
“I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings. If I wanted to have fun, I was going to go to Disneyland with my kids.”pic.twitter.com/G86fUGYfAE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 29, 2024
While Mayfield has since claimed his comments were taken out of context, the entire ordeal made for natural fodder on ESPN’s morning shows. That was especially the case on Get Up, which had two of Brady’s former New England Patriots teammates present to discuss the matter in Tedy Bruschi and Damien Woody.
After Bruschi admitted that playing alongside Brady is, in fact, “stressful,” Woody concurred. Both agreed that the payoff was well worth it, however, as it led to both former players winning multiple Super Bowls with the Patriots.
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. That’s what Tom was referencing,” Woody said. “Like bro, if you want to be comfortable and all that type of stuff. Cool…”
“Go play for the Jets!” Bruschi interrupted.
Bruschi’s dig at the Patriots’ AFC East rival would have been funny on its, only it was amplified by the fact that Rex Ryan was the third panelist on the show when he said it. Ryan, of course, served as the head coach of the Jets from 2009-2014, with his outspoken approach standing in stark contrast to Brady and Bill Belichick’s all-business demeanors.
Damien Woody on Tom Brady’s response to Baker Mayfield: “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. That’s what Tom was referencing. Like bro, if you want to be comfortable and all that type of stuff. Cool…”
Tedy Bruschi: “Go play for the Jets!”
Rex Ryan: 😳 pic.twitter.com/bEXkQBoDw4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 30, 2024
From there, the show broke down into hysterics, as it appeared Bruschi didn’t even make the connection to Ryan until he had already made his statement. Ryan, for his part, played along with the slight, clapping and laughing before spinning the conversation forward into a discussion about how different approaches work for different coaches and teams.
Whether Bruschi’s dig at Ryan was intentional or not remains unclear, but it’s worth noting that Woody had a smirk on his face as he set up the former linebacker for the punchline. And it’s a credit to Ryan — who’s been plenty willing to take jabs at the Patriots in the past — that he wasn’t just willing to play along, but also managed to use the hilarious moment to make his next point.
[Get Up]
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.