Interview: Candid conversations with the GOAT of NFL QBs Tom Brady.

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.

Stephen A. interviews 7X NFL Super Bowl Champion and 3X League MVP, Tom Brady about his career and Fox Sports Broadcasting debut.

 

 

Support the show: http://www.youtube.com/@stephenasmith

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to the special edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show. Although,
as always I'm coming at you.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
At the very least three days a week over the
digital airways of YouTube and of course iHeartRadio. I'm calling
this a special edition because of who I'm going to
spend the next hour talking to. You know, when you're
in the presence of greatness, it's not just about being
in awe of someone and their accomplishments. It's about figuring

(00:39):
out what makes them tick. It's about trying to decipher
and comprehend what makes them so special? Why did they
stand out above the crowd. What was it about them
that made them so special? What can I peel from
them in order to contaminate myself with and ultimately be.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
The best that I can be.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Anytime I'm in the presence of the one and only
Tom Brady, that seventh time Super Bowl champion, that three
time League MVP, that guy, that's exactly the kind of
attitude that I have. It's not just because he threw
a football so exceptionally well. It was because of his

(01:21):
commitment to excellence, his attention to detail, his never say
die attitude, the commitment to the process. That's who Tom
Brady is that to who He's always been that to
one quarterback after another tries to emulate. He's also the

(01:43):
guy that will be talking about those quarterbacks and that
Fox booth for the first time this season, jump starting
a ten year contract with Fox. He is special, make
no mistake about it. It very few no more football than
he does. So when he speaks, it would be wise

(02:08):
for all of us to listen. That includes me, Tom Brady,
with yours truly up next right here on the Steven N.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Smith Show, I'm going to introduce Love him or hate him,
you know his name, one of the most, if not
the most iconic figures in sports media. Ladies and gentlemen,
put your hands together for Steven A.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
Smith.

Speaker 5 (02:36):
A lot of correct except everybody.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
What's up, everybody, how y'all doing. I appreciate the love
of the poor.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
I love y'all.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Watching me on TV every day, But damn it, I'm
not box office. The person that I'm bringing up here next,
that's the man.

Speaker 4 (03:08):
Who's box office.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
I'm gonna waste very very little time. A seventh time champion,
the greatest quarterback in the history of the National Football League,
soon to be one of the elite football analysts. We've
ever heard the one and only Tom Brady's in the house, Ladies.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
And gentlemen, what's up? What's happening? This is?

Speaker 1 (03:49):
This is nice, It's not bad.

Speaker 6 (03:51):
It's a little surprising to me. I wasn't quite expecting this.
I walked out.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
I'm not ready to.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
Show up, Brady.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
The obvious question looking to the crowd like this out here.
Obviously this ain't a Leed stadium, but it's still a
large crab.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
How much did you miss it?

Speaker 4 (04:11):
Wow?

Speaker 6 (04:12):
First of all, thank you for being here with you,
who I love spending time with and whether we talk
on the phone or on some of your shows, always
enjoy hearing your insight. We've known each other a long
time and now we get to keep it going now
that I'm in media and obviously great being with you guys.
Who are the fans who keep all this going for
US athletes? And I think it's very cool what Fanatics

(04:35):
has done as kind of a celebration of you guys
to hopefully reward you guys and bring a lot of
great athletes together with a lot of the hobbies that
you guys are.

Speaker 4 (04:43):
Really involved in. So I think, for me, love you man.
I got here. I got here yesterday.

Speaker 6 (04:50):
I was hitting hockey pucks, swinging baseball bats, throwing footballs,
throwing punches. So I hope you guys get to experience
a lot of that over the next few days. But
I think it's really cool with fanatics has done and
how they're pulling things together. So and all the Patriot
fans in here drove down from New England. Well there's

(05:10):
some Jets fans here too, and hopefully a few Tampa
fans in here. But it's nice for everyone to turn
out here. We go shut love that too.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
What what is life like right now for a seven
time champion that's retired?

Speaker 1 (05:30):
I mean, I mean, I'm not talking about work.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
I'm just talking about when you talk about it was
in basketball, you lifted weight?

Speaker 4 (05:36):
I mean, what are you a TV twelve.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
We'll get into all of that, because you're in pretty
damn good shape right now. But I gotta ask you
what is life like in retirement?

Speaker 6 (05:44):
I tell you I'm retired from football, but I'm busier
than ever in life, oh right, And I just had
a lot of great things going on, still mostly involved
in sports, and I think that's where I've spent the
last thirty three years of my life, from going back
from high.

Speaker 4 (05:58):
School sports all the way through now and.

Speaker 6 (06:00):
I get a chance to now cover it for Fox
this year and still be involved in football in a
real intimate way. So I'm back to watching film. I'm
back to kind of doing things the way that I
used to do them, and the way that I was
got really efficient and effective over a long period of time.
So I got a lot of things that keep me
busy and still trying to be a great dad and
be there for my kids. So I think between everything,

(06:20):
it's a little busier, and all the parents out there
know what.

Speaker 4 (06:26):
It's a challenge to be a good parent, so we.

Speaker 6 (06:28):
All appreciate and all the kids hope you appreciate your
parents too, because there's a lot of work they put
into make your life a little bit easier.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
I got to ask you this question is really on
a personal level because.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
For me, I'm a dad.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
I got two beautiful daughters, and what I've learned is
I have no rights whatsoever. I mean, they just my
daughters run my life. They like, you know, Dad, just
stop arguing. You know, You're just going to do what
we want you to do. When all is said and done.
Is that what life is life?

Speaker 4 (06:56):
For you? Absolutely? Yes, that is the exactly the same way.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
And they call me.

Speaker 6 (07:00):
I know there's a request because when they don't call,
I don't hear from them. And when I don't hear
from I know they don't want anything. So they just
show up and they say, Dad, can I do this?
I need want to go to here and can we
do this? So it's yeah, providing them. And I think,
as a parent, naturally that's my dad, man, my dad.
Every time I ask him, Dad, can we go to
the batting cage?

Speaker 4 (07:19):
Dad?

Speaker 6 (07:19):
Can we go up and throw the football around? He
was always there and available. And I think one thing
that I try to be as a parent is that
for my kids when they really want.

Speaker 4 (07:27):
You to do something, and go out there and do
with them.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
You know, this is an interesting.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Part because every Hall of Famer that I've ever heard speak,
they always throw an apology out there to their family
because they say, all the dedication, the commitment to excellence,
trying to win, we made so many sacrifices that you
know what, we missed out on so much. But here's
the thing with the kids, they're fine with it, but they.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
Make you feel guilty because they're working you to.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Try to get everything they can out of you. Do
you find that to be the case.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (07:56):
I think a lot of it is they're going to
grow up one day, They're gonna have to have their
own job, They're gonna have to dedicate their own time.
They get a sense of that with school. And I
think as my kids got a little older, and maybe
your daughter is the same. I think my oldest at
least when I say, hey, I got to do something,
he goes absolutely, Dad go for it. So I think
they begin to appreciate and hopefully as they get older

(08:17):
and they start to have the responsibilities of an adult.
You know, when you're working hard to be a dad
and also to provide for the family, that does come
at being away a bit, being really focused on my job.
And I think that the kids when they have their
responsibilities and they got homework and they got now they
got choices, Well, I understand that you can't do everything

(08:39):
all the time, and every request that's made is impossible.
So I think during football season it's going to go.
Now that football season's coming up, I'll have a little
less time on the weekend, which I'm happy about it.
I'm happy to really excited to cover football, really excited
to give insights to you guys who tune in to watch,
who have been great football fans, and really anxious for
you guys to see things through my eyes and I

(09:00):
get to express it on TV for a lot of
years going forward.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
Everybody knows it's not a secret you signed a ten
year deal with Fox or whatever. What made you decide
I know I want to do that. I want to
be calling football games. I want to be given color commentary.
I want to be a commentator on football games. When
did you make the decision that that was something you
wanted to do.

Speaker 6 (09:22):
It wasn't really even on the radar when I retired,
and I didn't even think that when I would retire,
that's something I would go into. But I had saw
teammates go into it with.

Speaker 4 (09:31):
A great degree of success.

Speaker 6 (09:32):
Teddy Bruski's one that I really love on television.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Great, that's my guy.

Speaker 6 (09:38):
Willie McGinnis is another one that on NFL network I
thought did a great job.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
Rodney Harris Harrison great job on NBC.

Speaker 6 (09:44):
So I kind of looked at them and realized they
were great leaders of the team. How can they get
in there express their views on television to really spread
their positive outlook on what football has meant to them
and as they look forward, what it can do for
a lot of people.

Speaker 4 (10:01):
And they were so successful.

Speaker 6 (10:02):
So when I retired, it was just met with Fox
and they said this is what we think we want.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
You to do.

Speaker 6 (10:09):
And didn't realize that type of opportunity was out there,
and then I couldn't turn it down when when they said, hey,
you're going to be the lead analyst, and I thought, okay,
you know what, I still get to be a quarterback
in some ways now I'm just quarterbacking something a little
bit different. But in the end, you're sitting in that
hot seat. You're in the one calling the shots, and
that's where I like me. That's where I'm most comfortable.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Anybody in particular that you enjoyed watching and listening to
that you kind of think you might potentially mirror yourself
after because Tony Romo, for example, does a great great
job on CBS. John Madden made the position famous for
many years doing Monday Night Football, doing Sunday Football with
Pat Summer, all you for years before he Monday Night.

(10:50):
Anybody that stood out in your mind that you said,
you know what, that guy is great. I wish I
could be that good if I decided to do this.

Speaker 6 (10:55):
So it's interesting because as a quarterback, when I would
watch football games, when I was an active player, I
would really only watch the quarterback, and I'd watch how
he was playing, how he reacted the defense.

Speaker 4 (11:07):
I really wasn't listening much to.

Speaker 6 (11:09):
What was going on in the TV because whatever they said,
I only had my own view and judgment. I would
say in the last eighteen months, it's totally transitioned to
now I could care less what the quarterback's doing. I'm
still watching, but I'm really listening to what's going on
between the two people, the analysts and.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
The play by play play by play guys.

Speaker 6 (11:28):
So for me, it's probably taken a little bit of
a lot of them, and I don't think there's anyone
in particular other than I've reached out to a lot
of different people Troy Man and Collinsworth.

Speaker 4 (11:37):
I mean, I've talked to a lot of people, Tony.

Speaker 6 (11:39):
Obviously, and I think I liked little bits and pieces
of each of them, and they're all very talented, and
they're all very different. So how my style ends up
kind of being presented. That would be to be determined.
But I think for me, it's going to be unique
to me, and I think I do have, I feel
unique insights based on my experiences as a six round pick,

(12:00):
as someone who got injured, who someone was a third
string on the quarterback, then a backup on the depth
chart and went in because of injury, then one.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
Super bowls lost, super Bowls.

Speaker 6 (12:10):
Didn't make the playoffs, made the playoffs. All these experiences
that I had free agency, being on a new team,
integrating yourself into a new environment, playing in different weather conditions.
There's so many different things that I was able to
be a part of that I can relate to kind
of this current generation of athletes that are going out
there trying to make their dreams come true.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
What type of analyst can we act? I mean, I'm asking,
I mean, as a personality, what kind of a personality
can we expect to see from Tom Brady.

Speaker 6 (12:40):
I think it'll feel most probably very authentic to my
natural self.

Speaker 4 (12:45):
Okay. I would say my biggest challenge is.

Speaker 6 (12:48):
That I'm very critical of the play in the NFL,
and I think because I was very critical about the
way I played in the NFL, and I was very
critical about the way that our team played in the NFL.
And I think the expectations for performance that I had
were very, very very high. So the most challenging thing
is when I see something, when I think.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
Oh, that was horrible, I just can't say that on TV.

Speaker 6 (13:13):
Why not, Well, because there's parents, and you know, there's parents,
and there's family members, and I don't want to always
necessarily say it in that way. But I think if, okay,
if I was doing it myself, and let's say I
threw a really bad interception, I would walk to the sidelines.
I said, you are the worst quarterback in the world.
How could you possibly make that throat?

Speaker 4 (13:34):
I was terrible?

Speaker 6 (13:36):
But I just don't want to be so critical because
in some ways I don't necessarily know exactly what.

Speaker 4 (13:42):
The problem was on that play.

Speaker 6 (13:44):
If let's say Daniel Jones throws an interception, I didn't
mean to say it like that.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
That's what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
That's what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
What I'm trying to say, so.

Speaker 6 (13:54):
I wasn't even being critical of Daniel Jones. Maybe I
was a little bit, That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
And not only that, because of your expertise, we can
guess and we can speculate on what we're seeing and
ultimately lean on the result. You'll know specifically what the
hell somebody.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
Did wrong and why.

Speaker 4 (14:19):
Yeah, and.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
You gonna dial it back or you gonna bring it Yeah.

Speaker 6 (14:25):
I don't think I'm gonna dial it back to make
something that was negative.

Speaker 4 (14:30):
Into a neutral or a positive, right.

Speaker 6 (14:32):
I think if something's not good, I'm gonna point it
out why it's not good and how it can be better.

Speaker 4 (14:36):
That's the important part is and I think a lot
of it.

Speaker 6 (14:39):
Even the criticism of a player versus the criticism of
a play is very different. Just because someone is attached
to the negative aspect of a play doesn't mean mean
you're being negative toward that player. Look, anyone who's playing
in the NFL is a talented player. Anybody who is
making a living playing professional sports is at the one

(15:00):
percent of the one percent of the one percent.

Speaker 4 (15:02):
They're all great.

Speaker 6 (15:03):
That doesn't mean what they do is great all the time.
Being a great player is about making great plays consistently
over the course of a week, of a game, of
a season, of a career. If you tell me someone's
a great player, it doesn't mean he makes great plays
all the time. I could make bad plays. I just
make a lot more great plays than bad plays. You

(15:24):
know what, even even a very average player can make
great plays. The problem is they make a great play
than they make a negative play. A great play negative play. Well,
in that case you are average. Because great and A
and and F ends up being a C.

Speaker 4 (15:37):
And.

Speaker 6 (15:37):
I think for a great player you should aspire to
mostly a's, definitely, some b's every once in a while,
some c's, and very very rarely, you know, the d's
and the f's, so to speak.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Why the hiatus?

Speaker 2 (15:50):
You retired from football, but you weren't calling games, You
weren't doing analytical work on the games last year. Did
you want the year to prepare? Did you just want
to year off? Why didn't we see you doing this
last season?

Speaker 6 (16:04):
So twenty three years of playing was a grind. That
was a treadmill. That treadmill was moving very very fast
for a long period of time. And the reality is
I I was definitely tired from that physical exhaustion and
the mental exhaustion. I wanted to take a year if
I was going to be I realized that if I
want to be really great at this, and I know

(16:24):
you're someone I look up to the commitment you've made
to be great. There's a lot of energy, there's a
lot of time, there's a lot of emotion, there's a
lot of focus. And I needed to divert a little
bit of that attention and focus to the other things
in my life that needed some attention. So I wanted
to commit as much as I could the reorganize in
my life. And again, I'm coach Belichick always had a

(16:44):
great line during the season, right it was. I know,
he's an amazing coach, and he would always say, just
there should be a drawer at your desk, and everything
that comes to that inbox, every request you get, just
put it in the drawer for six months.

Speaker 4 (17:00):
It can wait, and when.

Speaker 6 (17:02):
The season's over, open up that drawer and handle the
stuff that you need to handle. Now, we couldn't do
that all the time because we're all in life and
things are happening. But I had a twenty three year old,
twenty three year old drawer and that thing was full, and.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
I needed, I think eighteen months to unpack that drawer.
See what the hell was in that drawer? Stuff.

Speaker 6 (17:20):
Yeah, there was a few trophies in there, but I
had to unpack that drawer and then figure out really
what needed attention and really where I could reorganize some
things to make sure the next twenty three years of
my life went the way that I wanted.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
Let me deviate off of you for a second and
ask you a question about this individual you brought up,
Bill Belichick. I looked at him and I said, to somebody,
on one hand, when he was out on the open
market and you saw these networks talking about him or whatever,
I'm like, why would somebody want to bring him on?
Because he never wanted to talk before, so why would

(17:54):
he want to talk now? But then I said to
him myself, wait a minute, because he never wanted to
talk before, everybody might be interested in what he has
to say. What he does taught what mindset that you
had when it comes to Bill Belichick being in television, Well.

Speaker 6 (18:08):
The difference is they paid him to coach. I didn't
pay him to talk. Now they're paying him to talk,
so he's gonna do what he's being paid for. And
he realized that every time he talked when a coach,
the only thing he could do is get you into problems,
because the last thing we wanted to do as an
athlete was go out there and tell all those players
on the other team exactly what our plan was, and

(18:29):
if anything, we wanted we were going into that battle
and we wanted you know our game strategy. We didn't
want you to know anything. And there's coaches like Andy
Reid who are a lot like that. He won't tell
you anything. You not talking to him, He's not saying anything,
He's talking.

Speaker 4 (18:42):
To you in circles.

Speaker 6 (18:43):
So I think what I appreciated about Coach Belichick as
a player was he really told us and gave us
the opportunity to make sure that we could put things
back on him, to say, hey, this is just not
what we do as a team. We're not going to
get up here talk about and to prove to you
guys how smart we are by talking about what our

(19:03):
game plan is. At the end of the day, we
wanted our focus to be on the game. We were
gonna let ultimately the result of the game speak for ourselves,
rather than try to win the press conference all the time, try.

Speaker 4 (19:15):
To be liked.

Speaker 6 (19:16):
Ultimately, we want to go out there and give ourselves
the best chance to win, because listen, this is what
I did when I was a player. I would get
all the clippings from every local report that we were
gonna play. So we were playing the Jets, I had
all the New York papers sending at our football facility,
all the quotes from all the Jets players over the
course of the whole week, because well, because they're gonna

(19:38):
tell you what they're gonna do, gotcha. And I think
for me, okay, the more information that they were gonna
give me, I was gonna take that information at least
be able to anticipate, go out there and play with
confidence as a player that okay, I got a good
idea of what their strategy is gonna be to try
to stop us. And then you just that's the cap
I was game to sports. You're gonna tell me what
I'm gonna do. Great, and now we'll figure those things out.

Speaker 4 (20:00):
Within the first quarter or so.

Speaker 6 (20:01):
But at the same time, we can go in there
with better preparation than them, and part of the preparation
was learning from the things that they were saying.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
Well, that was the best thing you could do.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
And I look at Bill Belichick and listen, everybody knows
I love trolling the Dallas Cowboy fans.

Speaker 4 (20:16):
I just do.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
I just love it. It just does something for me. It's Christmas.

Speaker 4 (20:20):
They give me Christmas early every year.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
Okay, this is what they do.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
But the thing about it is that, genuinely speaking, I
honestly felt that was the one place that would have
been perfect for Bill Belichick once you departed, Because my
attitude is all Jerry Jones wants to do is talk
to the media.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
All Bill Belichick wants to do his coach and not
talk to the media. It would have been a match
made in heaven.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
I thought they passed an opportunity. When you look at
Bill Belichick and his greatness as a coach coaching you
all of those years, do you think the Cowboys missed
out on him not being a coach for them? Do
you think everybody that could have had an opportunity missed out?

Speaker 1 (20:58):
What's your thought about teams pass on hiring them.

Speaker 6 (21:00):
I think, without a doubt he's the greatest coach to
ever coach in the history of the NFL, and sitting
in a meeting room with him for twenty years, there
is no coach that I felt more prepared by than
Coach Bill Belichick, and I think that's the only thing
you asked for as a player. Once that coach prepares
you and they walk you out on the field that

(21:23):
coin flip, then the coach has very little to say
on game day. Then it's up to us and we
have to take the things that we've studied, that we
practice over the course of the week.

Speaker 4 (21:32):
Now we got to go out there and execute it.

Speaker 6 (21:34):
But what you expect from a player is that when
you tell me to do something, when you tell me
to count on something, when we design this play, then
ultimately when I go out there on the field, I
can count on and I can bank on that that
is absolutely supposed to happen. Now, sometimes if you're playing
another coach that's equally as skilled, they're going.

Speaker 4 (21:53):
To have some.

Speaker 6 (21:55):
Counter attacks to your attacks, and you've got to be
able to be prepared for those.

Speaker 4 (21:59):
But I think he prepared us so well. And if
I would look.

Speaker 6 (22:02):
At any of these organizations who have any head coaching vacancies,
Bill Belichick to me is a no brainer. Now he's
gonna come and he's going to be authoritative, and he's
going to have his own way of doing things, and
you gotta be okay with that, But when I'm looking
at a coach to prepare a team, he's an incredible coach.
And I think Mike McCarthy's an incredible coach too, So

(22:24):
coach of the Cowboys, he's at twelve win seasons. I
know people talk about him all the time, but he's
a football guy too. That's all he wants to talk
is football, and he's a good fit for that organization
as well. So I think that's ultimately what the role
of the coach is. The coaches, to me, that are
the ones that are given all the information away, spending
more time giving information away to the public than.

Speaker 4 (22:43):
They are the players. Those are the ones that I
have a problem with.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
Okay, everybody, you know what Tom it is. It's Tom
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Speaker 1 (23:33):
All you have to do is play a five dollar
lineup on prize.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
Picks and you'll get fifty dollars instantly.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Now, let's look at today's winning picks.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
Okay, let's go with Xander Boguards more or less and
one and a half hits runs RBIs hmm, San Diego
flowing doing their thing. The brother can ball. I'm gonna
give him love. I'm gonna go with more. Okay, more
show Hey Otani, more or less than two and a
half hits runs plus RBI's as great as this dude is.

(24:04):
I never imagined in my wildest dreams we'd see somebody
this good. I'm watching him the other day smack a
couple of home runs. His bat speed is phenomenal. And oh,
by the way, he hasn't even pitched this season. That's
next season. So just look at what the Dodgers got
on their hands right now. This brother is something special.
Make no mistake about it. We're going with more because

(24:25):
of show Hal Tandy. That's why JD. Martinez more or
less than wanting to half hits runs plus RBIs. I
know you see it what the Dodgers happen. But he's
a member of the Mets right now. Okay, with the
New York Mets. They're not the Yankees. Maybe that's the
excuse I'm going with less. But it's just that on
this particular day, I don't feel that more is the
way to go with him. So I'm gonna go with less.
And by the way, La de la Cruz more or

(24:47):
less than wanting to half hits runs RBI's he's special,
special talent. Every time I see him, I think about
more and more and more because he got that kind
of silk skill set. I'm gonna go with more. So
let's go back and revisit this. Okay, we got bow
Guards more, We've got Otani more, we got Dayla Cruz more,

(25:10):
we got Martinez less. Every now and then some people
who register less team what you expected them to.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
That's the way it goes. That's the way it goes.
But it's still more for the most part.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
That's what you get when you play ball with prizepects.
When I look at the National Football League, obviously it's
incredibly more complicated than other sports to play. I'm not
trying to say that a manager for Major League Baseball
doesn't have responsibility, as a head coach for the NBA

(25:43):
doesn't have responsibilities. But you can ultimately give them the
ball and say take me there. I can't swing the
bat for you, Aaron Judge, you got to d I
can't shoot.

Speaker 4 (25:51):
A j for you.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
Steph Curry, you got to do that.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
But in football it's so much more difficult. So in
regard to that, I get it. But I still lean
on what Nick Saban talked to me about because I've
had the pleasure of having private conversations with Nick Saban,
and he talked about leadership and being a leader of men.
How important is that in today's NFL compared to what

(26:16):
it was back in the day.

Speaker 6 (26:19):
Yeah, So I'm not going to give up on the
fact of leadership and being leader of men as one
of the critical components to being a great player, quarterback, coach, owner.

Speaker 4 (26:27):
We all need more leaders in this world.

Speaker 6 (26:30):
We all need more people that are you know, worried
about solutions and complaints. We need more leaders that are
willing to step up and do more than do less,
that are willing to push people to be more disciplined
and less disciplined. We need more people to be team
focused and less self focused. If we want to be
successful in anything, it takes a team full of people,
and a team full of people can't always be worried

(26:51):
about what's in it for them all the time.

Speaker 4 (26:54):
And all my experiences in all my experiences in.

Speaker 6 (27:02):
Sports, whether it was high school sports, college sports, pro sports,
the greatest team we had, you woke up every day
and you went in there saying what can I do
to help the team win, not what can the team
do for me to promote myself as an individual. And
we played teams that were more interested being Pro Bowl
players than Super Bowl players, and to me, there was
a big difference between being a star and being a champion,

(27:23):
and champions do what it takes to win every single day,
no matter what it is. There's no job that's too
big or too small for a champion.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
So here's a question, and this begs the question, and
lets we have it. We are here from that express,
we're having a good time. I'm not gonna mention any names,
but throughout history there has been dare I say, some
prima donna's, some me me me kind of players that
have shown up.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
On football teams, and we won't reach any names.

Speaker 4 (27:52):
Okay, what would Tom Brady.

Speaker 1 (27:56):
Have done with a teammate like that?

Speaker 6 (27:59):
Well, that's a great question, and typically it is the
receiver position where that comes from.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
And it can I.

Speaker 6 (28:06):
Explain why those poor guys they stand out twenty three
yards from everyone else every single play and we break
the huddle and there's five linemen who are all in
it together, and the tight ends part of the old line,
and the quarterbacks part of that group, and the running
backs right behind us, and then those receivers got to
run twenty three yards away and the only person they
talk to all game is the corner, and that corner's

(28:26):
talking smack the whole games to them. And believe me,
that corner is away from everybody else too. So you
got these two guys out there twenty five yards from
the center, and the only thing they do is talk
to each other man when they're gonna throw you the ball,
I'm gonna throw throw me ball on this play. And
they just go back and forth all games. So they
get a little angry when the balls doesn't come their way.
So I think part of it is understanding that particular
position in the NFL always has an inherent degree of selfishness,

(28:51):
because look, they want and I would say that's not
always a negative. They want to help you win the game, right,
They want you, They want to contribute.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
They don't want to go through a losing game.

Speaker 6 (29:00):
And then look at their statue and I was targeted
two times. You have Tyreek Hill, you have Justin Jefferson,
you have Jamar Chase.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
You don't want to lose a game and look over
and see.

Speaker 6 (29:10):
Those guys were targeted once or twice in the game.
You want to try to feed them the ball. And
believe me, if I was a quarterback, I'd be wanting
to feed them the ball too. Good defenses they try
to take them away, and I don't think the receivers
always necessarily understand that that's right. I try to tell them,
you don't understand when they have a certain defense called
they're sometimes putting one and a half players on you

(29:30):
and sometimes two players, And at that case, I got
to throw to somebody else that has a better matchup. Now,
when you get a true one on one, we're gonna
get you the ball, just like every this word, just
like basketball. If they got two on Lebron, there's one
guy free, right, And I think being a good quarterback
is kind of being that point guard and seeing, okay,
where is their extra coverage and then where can I
get the ball where it's for the easiest opportunity for

(29:51):
us to gain yards and the opportunity if they give
Lebron a one on one, then give them the ball, right,
And that's the point. That's how you play quarterback. You're
out their point guard. This dishing the ball to people
who can do something with it.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
The eloquence of that delivery is just phenomenal. That's why
you're Tom Brady. But but respectfully, it didn't answer my
question if you had a teammate.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
Yeah, okay, that was that kind of primadonna.

Speaker 4 (30:20):
Yeah, how I'll put you this way.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
I want to interview Joe Montana, and I was bringing
that very scenario up, Joe Montana said, I'd.

Speaker 1 (30:30):
Look at him and whisper in his ear. You want
to see the ball for the next two weeks. Yeah,
you better chill out.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
I'm asking Tom Brady what would Tom Brady do?

Speaker 6 (30:40):
So what tom Brady would do and I've tried, is
I would try to connect with that player on a
level that he's really interested and he can relate to.
I want to find out about what's going on with
him and his life and why he's feeling the way
he's feeling, and then try to rationalize things to a
degree and say, hey, I understand what you're saying, but

(31:01):
from my standpoint, this is how I see. So it's
really about creating that connection through that relationship that you're
trying to build with those particular receivers. The unfortunate thing
about that is you're never going to get one hundred
percent of the way there. You could spend all your
time and unders trying to connect with someone who's more
self focused, but in the end, that's their character and

(31:22):
that's who they are. You may realize that maybe you
could get five percent more out of them we're ten percent,
but you may not get twenty or thirty percent more
out of them. And I think that's anyone who's in
here in a career, who's working, who's in charge of
people and running a business. You find people that may
be a little self focused. You could put a lot
of time and energy in them, and that's important because

(31:43):
by doing that you can actually minimize some of the distraction.
But at the same time, you got to understand what
the realistic expectations are for that as well, and then
the opportunity if they become too selfish, then at some
point they got to go play for the competition, and
that's just the reality of I think that's why it's
very important to understand their emotional aspects to every athlete

(32:06):
as well. We often evaluate athletes only on their physical ability.
I watched the NFL drought. Oh he's going to be
a great player. Oh watch him roll right and escape here.
Watch him make this throw. He throws it hard. Watch
him throw the downfield ball. And I'm sitting here going, Okay, Well,
that's about one third of what he.

Speaker 4 (32:23):
Needs to do to be successful.

Speaker 6 (32:25):
What about the other two thirds that nobody is thinking about?
How does he deal with failure? How does he deal
with success? Is he involved in game planning. Is he
a good leader? Is he going to learn from year
to year? Is he going to be better in the
eighth game of year than he was in the first.
How does he take care of himself? Does he have
good habits off the field? What's his background like? Does

(32:45):
he know how to deal with a degree of adversity?

Speaker 4 (32:50):
So to me, that's such a small part of it.

Speaker 6 (32:53):
And I think we all have to understand that we're
all emotional beings, and if you want to really actualize
your true potential, you got to become really in control
of your emotions. The best players I had, and the
best teammates ever had, they.

Speaker 4 (33:06):
Showed up to work every day.

Speaker 6 (33:08):
I never had to worry about their effort or their attitude.
I knew that when I called a play Wes Welker,
he was gonna run his ass off on every play.

Speaker 4 (33:17):
Whether he got it or whether he didn't.

Speaker 6 (33:20):
I'm sorry, And he was gonna know what he had
to do on every play, and every play he was
gonna make the right decision. So when I was in
a huddle, was Wes Welker, I never thought for one
second whether he was gonna do the right thing or
not that is freeze my mind up to do what
I need to do because my job's not easy. And
if I got to worry about Oh god, I look

(33:40):
out and I see a receiver, I'm like, oh god,
he doesn't even look like he knows. He barely lined
up right. He's looking over at the sideline. It looks
like he's trying to tell ask the coach what do
I got? What? And I'm like, he's out right, I'm
throwing the ball somewhere else.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Would you?

Speaker 2 (33:54):
It's one thing to say he's out, you're gonna throw
the football as somebody else. Were you the type of
player that was an extension of the coach from the standpoint, you'd.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
Go to the coach and be like, look, he don't
have it. He's not on his game. He didn't do.

Speaker 4 (34:08):
Some coaches see that for themselves.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Some coach looks for the leaders to see that for
them as well. Which kind of player will you?

Speaker 6 (34:16):
Well, No, I would just tell him directly he's out.
Put him out, And I would tell the coach. And
I would tell the coach, don't put him in because
I'm not throwing him the ball, So you put him in.
Just that we've got ten guys out there, so good.
Believe me as a quarterback, that's the best thing you got.
You hold the ball so and I would tell receivers
on certain right side a lot of pet peeves as
a quarterback, and certain things they said. For example, if

(34:39):
I was running an outside breaking route from the inside
the field the outside field and we went inside the defender,
I told the receivers, I'm never throwing you the ball,
so do it. I don't care whether you do or not.
If you do it, I'm never throwing I'm just looking
at someone else. So try to get outside, push him
all the way up to your depth, and then break out.

Speaker 4 (34:57):
Give me a chance.

Speaker 6 (34:58):
So that gets the point across quickly if they realize
that's the case for them.

Speaker 2 (35:07):
I want to take a second to let everyone know
that the NFL season is fast approaching, but you don't
have to.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
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Speaker 2 (35:17):
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Speaker 1 (35:32):
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Speaker 2 (35:33):
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Speaker 1 (35:46):
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Speaker 2 (35:47):
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So pick more, pick less. It's that easy.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
I gotta show on YouTube the Steven A. Smith Show,
and you were kind enough to bless me with your
presence and let me do an interview with you a
few months ago, and still thank you for that. I
got a quote that I want to read that you
gave because I want everybody to hear this. This is
what you had to say about today's NFL right on
that show. I think there's a lot of mediocrity in

(36:41):
today's NFL. I don't see the excellence that I saw
in the past. I don't think the coaching is as
good as it was. I don't think the development of
young players is as good as it was. The rules
have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into
the actual performance of the game. I just think the product,

(37:02):
in my opinion, is less than what it's been elaborate
to the audience. Why you not just what you said,
but why you felt the need to articulate that point
of view, because it was clearly during the NFL season
you will watch it what you will watch it, and
you were not happy talk.

Speaker 6 (37:20):
About I love football, that's why, and I love the sport.
And if we had the iPhone fifteen this year, I
don't want to watch the iPhone nine be re released.
And when I watch it sometimes I think, wait a minute,
we're regressing in the game a little bit because for
a number of different reasons, and I could cite them

(37:40):
all the way back for the last fifteen years, but
it could go from Ultimately, the development of the players
is what's the most important the NFL. If you want
football to be good, you're gonna want to develop these
players to be better every single year, and the reality
is we don't have the processes in place for those
those players to be better a year after year. They

(38:02):
may maintain, they may be it slightly better, but not
at the improvement levels that we were able to make
when I was a younger player. Through our ability to
practice more, we had less distractions, There was much more
opportunity in the off season to train. There was more
opportunity in training camp to train. There was more opportunity
than the regular season to train. We had through and

(38:25):
not only through pro level, but also in college for
us because whatever gets adopted at the pro level ultimately
gets adopted at the college level, and from the college
level it gets adopted to the high school level. And
now I look at what could be a little bit
dangerous is now there are players transferring from schools when
they're not playing, and they're going to different programs, and

(38:46):
they're going to different techniques they're learning. They're never advancing
in an own individual system. There used to be college programs.
Now there are college teams. You're no longer learning a program,
you're learning playbook, and the program is ultimately like a
Michigan for me, that was a.

Speaker 4 (39:04):
Pro style program. Five years.

Speaker 6 (39:06):
I got to learn how to drop back pass, to
read defenses, to read coverages, to be coach, to deal
with winning games, to deal playing in Columbus Ohian front
one hundred and ten thousand people.

Speaker 4 (39:17):
I had to learn from being.

Speaker 6 (39:19):
Seventh quarterback on the depth chart to moving up to
third to ultimately being a starter. I had to learn
all those things in college. That was development. Then I
went to New England and I was developed by coach
Belichick and the offensive staff there.

Speaker 4 (39:33):
I didn't start my first year.

Speaker 6 (39:34):
I think it's just a tragedy that we're forcing these
rookies to play early.

Speaker 4 (39:39):
But the reality is the only reason why.

Speaker 6 (39:40):
That is because we've dumb the game down, which has
allowed them to play.

Speaker 4 (39:44):
It used to be thought of at a higher level.

Speaker 6 (39:45):
We used to spend hours and hours in the offseason
in training camp trying to be a little bit better
than next year.

Speaker 4 (39:51):
But I think what happens is.

Speaker 6 (39:52):
Discourages the coaches from going to deep levels because they
realize the players don't have the opportunity to go to
a deep level, so they're just going to teach them
where they're at.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
They get rectified How does that rectify so the quality
of the competential quality of play can improve.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
How do you rectify that?

Speaker 6 (40:07):
Well, I would say as I as I speak to
let's say a quarterback. For example, when I was a quarterback,
what I aspired to be was a game general out there.
I wanted to be that field general. I wanted to
call the shots you could. If you were my coach,
you would call a play. That play would come into me.
I would say, Okay, I think, and we've communicated before

(40:29):
the game. This is the reason why he called the play.
We talked about this. I'm walking to the line of scrimmage.
I'm looking at the defense. Oh perfect, I love. The
defense is exactly why we call this play. I snapped
the ball. Well, every defense is built a little differently,
and every defense takes away something different. Sometimes I walk
to the line of scrimmage, I knew exactly why we
call the play, and I goes, oh god, it's not

(40:51):
going to work. We have no chances play working based
on the defense that they called. So I would change
the play, got it and I get out of the play.

Speaker 4 (40:58):
I'd turn it.

Speaker 6 (40:58):
And if let's say I had a deep pass and
they were guarding you deep. I would check to a run,
I checked to a short throw. I'd get out of
that play to make sure that play was successful. Now,
the quarterbacks walk to the line of scrimmage, coach calls
a deep play, defense calls the coverage that takes away
deep play, and they snapped the ball and that quarterback's
holding the ball and he gets sacked. And then I
hear people go, oh, the offensive lines got to hold up.

(41:19):
And I'm listening like there was no one going to
be open on that play. You could call it one
hundred times the same result would happened. When is the
quarterback's responsibility to check to a play that's going to
be successful. That's what I did. That's what Peyton Manning did.
That's what Ben Roethlisberger did. That's what Drew Brees did.
That's what Philip Rivers did. Those are the guys. That's
what Joe Montana did. That's what Steve Young did, That's

(41:41):
what John Elway did. So when I look at the
great players, I think, Okay, let's try to be great,
and to be great, you got to take control.

Speaker 4 (41:50):
You don't go out.

Speaker 6 (41:51):
There on the air and you have producer directly that says, hey, Steven,
and this.

Speaker 4 (41:54):
Is what I want you to do, And all of
a sudden, you get out there and you just regurgitate
what they said. You got to feel the moment. It's
up to you. That's why they trust you. We need
quarterbacks like you.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes in six years, six.

Speaker 2 (42:14):
AFC championship games, four Super Bowl appearances, three Super Bowl titles,
three Super Bowl MVPs. We look at him and we
say he's great. I don't know if I've heard anyone
ask this question of a quarterback A lot of times.
When we look at greatness today, we compare them to generations.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
What would they have.

Speaker 2 (42:39):
Been if they had played in a different generation.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
When you look at somebody like.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
A Mahomes, for example, what would he have been in
the era of football?

Speaker 6 (42:49):
You just praised, Yeah, I think he would be better.
And I'm saying he's already great. He's already I mean,
believe me, he's, in my opinion, the best quarterback in
the NFL.

Speaker 4 (42:58):
And his why I could talk about his physicals because you.

Speaker 6 (43:02):
Know, when I look at him and I see why
he's great, I see the way that he's endeared himself
to his teammates. I see the joy they have when
they're out there playing together. So I love when I
see his rapport with his teammates, with his coaches, how
he communicates after the game.

Speaker 4 (43:19):
I'm listening to the press conference as much as I'm
watching him.

Speaker 6 (43:22):
Throw a tight spiral, because that's ultimately what that position
is about. Yeah, it's about your ability to be physically
gifted and run and throw on the move and drop
his arm, angle and recoverage.

Speaker 4 (43:32):
And throw the ball deep.

Speaker 6 (43:33):
It's also about how the message you're creating every day
to your fans, to your teammates, to your coaches, how
you present yourself on the field, off the field, how
you handle wins and losses. That to me is just
as important in the development of a player. And I
think the challenge that I see with him as he
gets older, he's not as young as he was, and
can he relate to the young players. I believe he will.

(43:55):
He's now had a degree of success. As that continue
to motivate him, that's going to be up to him.
There's gonna be a lot of things that now happen
in his life, his children and as he grows that
are probably external from football. How does he deal with those?
I believe he's got a good foundation to deal with those.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
I would never ask you this question as a player,
but damn it, you're an analyst now, so I can
ask this. Top five quarterbacks in the National Football League
right now, according to Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes being number one, give.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
Me two, three, four and five.

Speaker 4 (44:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (44:26):
So, I just think I think consistently well the guys
that I see. I see Josh Allen as someone who's
always impresses me as a player. I see Lamar Jackson,
who always impresses me as a player.

Speaker 4 (44:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (44:44):
I think that some different guys probably have different moments.
Joe Burrow is very impressive the way he throws the
ball and leads a team. Again, another guy who's got
a great connection with his teammates.

Speaker 4 (45:02):
And then I think I'll leave it at those four.

Speaker 1 (45:05):
I'm gonna throw Amaron Rodgers in there.

Speaker 4 (45:07):
Of course, it's me.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
It's just me, one of the great pure pass the
game has ever seen.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
I'm gonna throw him in there.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
And the man knows the game inside of I gotta ask.

Speaker 6 (45:15):
I'm very interested to see how Aaron comes backs and
performs this year.

Speaker 4 (45:18):
And yep, you know how.

Speaker 6 (45:19):
Dedicated and committed he is to being a great quarterback
again eight a year off. I believe that it would
be very motivating for him to do that. But again,
that's what that's why they go play. And again, I
think for all of us, we can analyze before the
point at the end of the day, it's gonna be
up to them to go out there and prove to
us right or wrong, whether our decisions or judgments or
hypothesis about them are right.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
I look at somebody like the San Francisco forty nine is,
for example, and I say to myself.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
They're knocking on a door.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
Rock Proty's dead, Kittles dead, Deebo Samuel is dead, Christian
McCaffrey is dead. I think they need to keep EYEU.
But I'm a Stealers fan. Please go to the Steelers.

Speaker 4 (45:58):
But here's the deal.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
I look at San Francisco and there's two trains of thought.
On one hand, you've been knocking on the door at
some point you're gonna kick it in, or you've been
knocking on a door and you missed your opportunity.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
What mode of thinking? And I'm really not about.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
San Francisco, just about that kind of scenario when you've
been knocking on the door and you've gotten so close,
is it more of a missed opportunity or is it
more of we're right there?

Speaker 4 (46:28):
I think.

Speaker 6 (46:30):
I think perspective will determine that ultimately when we look back.

Speaker 4 (46:34):
So in any team in the moment.

Speaker 6 (46:35):
That I would say loses a Super Bowl, how many
times have we lost Super Bowl?

Speaker 4 (46:38):
And then the next year the team doesn't make the playoffs?

Speaker 6 (46:40):
That happens quite a bit, you know why, because every
year you start back at the bottom with everybody else,
whether you win the Super Bowl, whether you finish in
thirty second place, you start at the bottom of that
mountain that you're trying to climb. And I think someone
like the forty nine ers, for example, they run a
great program. I think they have a very good ownership,
they have a very good general manager, they have a

(47:01):
good head coach, they have a very good quarterback, they
have a very good defense and defensive coordinator who they've had,
And I think those are great fundamentals of what you're
looking forward to build an organization those positions.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
I'm a huge Kyle Shanahan fan. I think he's an
exception too. Coach An exceptional offensive mine. But I've never
gotten over the fact that he was the offensive coordinator
that lost the twenty five point lead against your Patriots. Well,
I'm like, run the football, keep the ball out of
Tom Brady's hands, and the clock will work for you.

Speaker 1 (47:31):
That's just my thinking.

Speaker 4 (47:32):
Okay, well, I'm glad it worked out the way, let
me say that.

Speaker 6 (47:36):
But at the same time, the argument for that is
Matt Ryan had a one point fifty eight point three
quarterback rate into that point. He was playing as well.
He won the MVP of that season. They had Julio
Jones out there and had it not Let's say he
handed the ball up off a couple times and didn't go.

Speaker 4 (47:51):
Well, they'd be saying, why.

Speaker 6 (47:53):
Didn't you put the ball in the hands of the MVP,
And they go, it's your first ballot Hall of Fame receiver.
So the reality is he had the league MVP, he
had one of the great receivers of the generation in
Julio Jones. That offense was prolific that season. Put it
in their hands. If you're going to go down in
the Super Bowl, you want to go down with your
best guys. And he was trying, not that he was

(48:14):
trying to go down, but he's trying to put in
their hands.

Speaker 2 (48:15):
Do you ever find, like when we watch other sports,
particularly with me in basketball, you see guys and you're
going like this, they look a little nervous, they don't
look like they don't look like they ready to handle
this moment. Have you found did you find yourself at
times on the opposite side of a football field and
you look at the team, You're like, they ain't ready
for this, they don't want this moment. I'm telling you

(48:38):
just put the ball back and they're not ready for this.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Have you found yourself in those scenarios?

Speaker 6 (48:42):
I definitely have seen that a few times. I would
say it's very rare to see that on an entire defense. Okay,
I'd say you can see it on certain players that
just have checked out. They're not really that interested in
being out there that day. Sometimes it comes a little
bit later in the season or lat in games where
you know they want to go out there and be
a professional, but at the same time, they're playing very

(49:04):
much within their comfort zone. They're not playing the way
Ray Lewis played, They're not playing the way Ed Reid played.
Those guys like that, Jason Taylor. They never checked out
of a game. Zach Thomas. I had a chance to
play against those guys a lot, and they were in
it every single game.

Speaker 4 (49:18):
So I think for me that was the guys that
I really is.

Speaker 6 (49:20):
Michael Strahan every game he was out there to try
to beat the opposing tackle on every play and sack
the quarterback. Those are the guys that I really admire because.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
We've watched you, particularly since you've retired. You're talking, you're
vibing with a lot of people, You're showing more of
your personality, et cetera.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
Who's asked, did you want to kick most when you
wan on a football field.

Speaker 6 (49:46):
When I was on the football, when you was on
a football field, who did?

Speaker 2 (49:50):
I mean, you just wanted it brought you joy to
bring them misery. Who was that player on a football
field that made you feel that way?

Speaker 6 (50:02):
Well, I would say I had to try to create
and you know a lot of ways I had to
try to create that for everybody because.

Speaker 4 (50:10):
It's and again, it's.

Speaker 6 (50:11):
Never the person, because the person is a human being,
it's the belief of who that person. They're standing in
your way, so like and I would say it's more
team wise but let's say the Colts back when when
I was at the Patriots, every time they lost man,
I could have thrown a party at my house.

Speaker 4 (50:30):
And it's and it's.

Speaker 6 (50:31):
Not because I didn't love Peyton Manning and I didn't
respect him more than any other quarterback that ever played against.
I just knew that if we wanted to go where
we wanted to get to, he was standing in the
way right and we had to move him out of
the way. And the fact that someone else could slightly
budge him a little bit off track that helped our
job a little bit.

Speaker 4 (50:51):
But to do it.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
For you like you've got something, you know, the great
players that have blessed me with their knowledge would say,
there's a difference between somebody being moved out of your
way and you moving them out of you.

Speaker 4 (51:05):
We like that too, That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (51:07):
Oh, I'm like, I did you really get like, all right,
somebody knocked on Peyton Manning so.

Speaker 4 (51:12):
You didn't get the chance to No, No, I didn't
think like that.

Speaker 6 (51:15):
No.

Speaker 4 (51:15):
I wanted them to be knocked off. Every week. I
would have taken them to knock them off.

Speaker 6 (51:18):
That had I buried them deeper and then hopefully the
next people were bury them even deeper.

Speaker 4 (51:21):
But that was just that I wanted everybody to lose it.

Speaker 6 (51:24):
Believe me, I never had And I think a big
part of this generation too, that I see is I
didn't have friends on other teams when I was playing.
I didn't have social media accounts where I could direct
message people and.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
Want another thing in komba, y'all before you go up
against them, you didn't do that.

Speaker 6 (51:40):
I didn't go out there on the field to shake hands, man.
I was trying to. When I played against the Giants.
Oh my god, we almost got No. This is twenty
twenty COVID year, you get There was no fans, they
didn't see us. I went out onto the field. I
was so fired up. It was no one in the
crowd and they were trying to kick field goals on
our side of the field.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
I was not happy.

Speaker 6 (51:57):
I had going at it with the special teams coach
and I apologizing. The backup quarterback Blain Gabbert was like,
what is wrong with you? But I just had to
create this anger because I had to go out there
feeling like.

Speaker 4 (52:10):
Anger really motivated me, right. I think anger was a
great emotion for me.

Speaker 6 (52:14):
As an athlete that if I could see that someone
disrespected me and I could get angry, man, that created
action within me, and that action within me created energy.
That energy created confidence, and that confidence created emotion, and
that emotion created a result that I wanted.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
We got about three minutes.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
We got about three minutes left here with the Great
Tom Brady.

Speaker 1 (52:36):
Got to ask you a few of these questions.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Number One, the number one threat to the Kansas City
Chiefs in the AFC is home.

Speaker 6 (52:47):
At I would say, it's, man, all those teams are
gonna be tough. I think it's still the Bills of
the Bengals, just because I think the quarterback play the
Bills and.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
The Bengals more than the Ravens.

Speaker 4 (53:02):
They're right up there.

Speaker 6 (53:03):
Okay, but I would say, you know, and they're they're exceptional.
I just the Ravens have to have to, I think,
be more successful in the postseason for me to feel like, okay,
you know, they're right there.

Speaker 4 (53:14):
The Bengals have made in the Super Bowl, the Bills have.
Burrough has been in championship games, so.

Speaker 2 (53:19):
He's got a three and one record against Patrick Mahomes.
Got to give them credit, what credits due the number
one threat to the Chiefs in the entire NFL.

Speaker 6 (53:27):
I think, yeah, I think it's it's probably still the
forty nine Ers and the Packers I think are going
to be a great team. And you know what, I
think the Rams are going to be a good team
this year too, very good offense receiving corps. They lost
Aaron Donald. Nobody can replace him. That guy's first ballot
Hall of Famer. But they've drafted really well. They got
a really underrated defense that's going to be a team

(53:47):
to watch too.

Speaker 2 (53:48):
The Philadelphia Eagles having say Kwan Balkley. The Philadelphia Eagles
with say Kwan Barkley, what is that going to do.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
In the National Football League?

Speaker 6 (53:59):
In your estimation, again, Saquon's got to He's got approve
to everybody that he can go out there and perform
well over seventeen games. So it's a good offense if
you're a running back to be in and believe me, Saquon,
I think so high loom as a running back, But
you know, his potential is still out there, but he's
got to find it himself. I mean, there were high

(54:19):
expectations we came in based when he did in college.
He had some great games for the Giants, and obviously
they decided to move on from him go to a
division rival that should be very We talked about the
emotional aspect. Saquon should be very angry and emotional about that,
which hopefully motivates him to play his best.

Speaker 4 (54:36):
But he's got to go out there and perform himself.

Speaker 1 (54:39):
There is a team that's very popular.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
Uh the Sportacle says they're worth over ten billion dollars
now are Uh, they're America's team, but they got They
haven't won a super Bowl in twenty eight, eight plus years.
Their starting quarterback has won two playoff victories in eight years,

(55:10):
and the quarterback, the wide receiver, and the elite defensive
player are in line to get paid. What should we
expect from the Dallas Cowboys this year?

Speaker 6 (55:24):
So they've They've got a lot of talent on both
sides of the ball.

Speaker 4 (55:28):
They have.

Speaker 6 (55:31):
A lot of distractions as well, right, so I think
can the great players minimize the distractions? And I think
the challenging part about that environment is we're talking about
them now. They're talked about more than any other team
in the NFL. Any given day when you turn the
television on and can they handle all that comes with it?

(55:52):
And I would say, in general, the younger players, because
this is.

Speaker 4 (55:56):
More normal for them growing up in college.

Speaker 6 (55:58):
Now you go to LSU, you go to Georgia, you
go to Michigan, you go Tohiose State, you go to USC.
You're dealing with the similar types of distractions, and they're
probably learning to deal with them a little bit better.
But at the same time, can they minimize the distractions
so that Believe me, winning in the NFL is very hard.
The competition is very tough. The margin of air is

(56:19):
very slim. So where can you gain margins of air?
You can gain them by eliminating distractions. And that's what
I think the Cowboys have to master from their organization
as well as their team leaders. How can they go
in there minimize the distractions so that they can go
out and focus on football against a very competitive NFL.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
It's apropos, Hold on, hold on, it's apropos to ask
this very last question about you as opposed to the
National Football League. I'm just making sure I've got all
my numbers here. Twenty three NFL seasons, fifteen Pro Bowls,
ten trips to the Super Bowl, seven Super Bowl Championships,
five time Super Bowl MVP, Tom League MVP. Oh, by

(57:02):
the way, now you're gonna be an elite analyst. You
got the TV twelve brand. You look fantastic, all right.
I know you've got ownership, aspirations and the like. What
the hell is left for Tom Brady to accomplish?

Speaker 6 (57:20):
So I think that I want to just what would
bring me to most joys being involved with people that
helped me grow, so that I can continue to be
the mentor for people that I've really become as I've
gotten older as a player and I've have so many
young players reach out to me. So many people come
up to me and they want to reach their potential.

(57:41):
Maybe they see me as someone who has done that
in my career, and I want to do that and
be the mentor for other people. And how can I
help people be a little bit better in their life?
How can I help kids be a little bit better
in their youth sports programs?

Speaker 4 (57:54):
How can I help elite athletes? Quarterbacks?

Speaker 6 (57:57):
Coaches asked me all the time, what was it like
playing for Bill Belichick? What was it like after ACL injury?
What was it like going to Michigan and being a backup.
I've had a lot of.

Speaker 4 (58:05):
Unique experiences that have helped me grow.

Speaker 6 (58:07):
And the only reason why I'm sitting here today with
some unbelievable stats that you read that I always feel
our very team focused is because the people that.

Speaker 4 (58:16):
Came into my life I put effort in.

Speaker 6 (58:19):
But this was about the right people being in my
life to allow me to grow and succeed in the
way that I wanted to. And if I could be
that person for other people, I would love I would
look forward to that waking up every day for the
rest of my life.

Speaker 1 (58:37):
I would say this to you.

Speaker 2 (58:38):
I've been I've been in this business for thirty years
and I sincerely mean this from the bottom of my heart.
One of the greatest honors of my career is being
able to get to know you and be able to
call you a friend.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
I really really mean that. You're one of the best
people that I know, and it's the privilege.

Speaker 4 (58:54):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (58:57):
I'm going to ask for a bit of advice as
my very life ask questions. They talking about roasting me,
putting me through a roast.

Speaker 4 (59:06):
I what what's your advice about that?

Speaker 6 (59:11):
Measure nine times and cut once, so think really hard
about it.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
Ladies.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
Jenner tom Brady, Damn, that was good.

Speaker 4 (59:23):
Oh it was good.

Speaker 2 (59:25):
But it's tom Brady, so I expect it no less
when you have a conversation like that which you appeel
from it is how committed he is to be an exceptional.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
At whatever he chooses to do.

Speaker 2 (59:41):
He doesn't have to say it, but you easily get
the impression. He's one of those guys that has the attitude,
why waste your time doing something if you're gonna be
half asked about.

Speaker 1 (59:53):
It, be all you can be.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
Took a year off from football after retiring from playing
in a sport. Wanted to make sure he had all
his ducks in order to show. He went to play
with you know, play with his kids. Sure, he went
to spend time with his family. Sure, he wanted to
decompress after twenty three years in the NFL. All true,
But you know what else he wanted to do. He
wanted to be exceptional at what he's about to do,
to make sure that he put in all the preparation necessary. Remember,

(01:00:22):
he's succeeding Greg Olsen. He used to play for the
Carolina Panthers, who was an award winner as a color commentator.
Those are big shoes to fill because Olson is no joke.
He's a talented guy. But Tom Brady is more than talented.
He's about greatness. I'm looking forward to listening to him

(01:00:43):
this year, watching him work and seeing what I predicted
would be a career nearly as illustrious as his playing career.
That's how good I think he's going to be. And
this business is something I know a thing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
Or two about it. Congratulations to Tom Brady.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
Thank you so much for spending time talking to me,
for wanting me to be the one to sit down
and interview you. It was an honor and a privilege,
just like I said in front of that audience, and
it's gonna be an honor to watch you and to
listen to Tom Brady in the future.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
I hope you all enjoyed this episode as much as
I did. Peyton Manning is next coming Wednesday.

Speaker 2 (01:01:20):
Until then, Peace in love, everybody, Steven A signing off
until next time.