Passionate Tom Brady believes QB play has been "dumbed down," NFL's rule changes have gone too far

BOSTON -- Tom Brady continues to show sneak previews of what he'll be as a professional football analyst. And the man has got some things to say.

Speaking while getting his hair cut on "DeepCut with VicBlends," Brady had some passionate opinions about the state of quarterback play today.

"I think it's been dumbed down a lot," Brady said. "I think it's just, they're taking the quarterback position where you should've been the field general, you should've had a real say on the field and contributed -- you know, you always had the last swipe at the pencil. And I feel like the coaches now are trying to make it more coaching-focused and just [saying] 'Run what I call and get out there and be a robot, and then adlib if the play breaks down.'"

While quarterbacks have always had to follow coaching orders, Brady recalled a more collaborative process during his own playing career.

"I loved being involved in the game plan, I loved designing plays, I loved designing schemes for our teams. I'd go in there with a list of ideas of all the things I wanted to do," Brady said. "And I really got the nuances of the game, and 'OK, it's Cover 1, it's man-to-man, how can I design plays to beat man-to-man and work with my coaches and work with the great minds that I've been around to develop a f---ing game plan that would kill it every single game?' And those game plans were Picassos, you know? We'd get ready for the game and we'd be like, 'They have no f---ing chance of stopping us with this plan.' So today I feel like the quarterback just shows up, and they go, 'What do you want me to do, coach?' And it's, we've dumbed the game down and it's more checkers now than it used to be chess."

Brady said he doesn't agree with anyone who says that athletes are better nowadays, pointing to Lawrence Taylor, Barry Sanders, Steve Young and Randall Cunningham as some spectacular athletes from a previous generation.

"I mean, there's always been great athletes in football. I think we've gotta get the game mentally better," Brady said. "People need to understand exactly why they're doing what they're doing. And I've been around a lot of really smart players, and you know, it's that type of game. You've got to use your brain to get out there and give yourself an advantage."

Brady has been an outspoken critic of the NFL going too far in protecting offensive players. And when asked about the NFL's ban on hip-drop tackles, he reiterated that stance during this interview as well.

"I feel like if you can protect yourself in football, then it's your responsibility to protect yourself. I don't think it's your opponent's responsibility to protect you," Brady said.

One might assume that a quarterback would like seeing the game change to favor offense, but Brady expressed some strong feelings to the contrary.

"Offense is the only way to win games now," Brady stated plainly. "It used to be offense, defense, special teams. We've created a game now where only the offense can really make an impact. Because defense, every time you make a great defensive play, there's a penalty. And it advances the ball 15 yards. And they blame the defensive player for hitting the offensive player too hard. So I don't like those things. I'd like for it to have a closer look at how we've affected the game in a negative way. And I think that should be seriously thought about for the future of the game."

During his playing career, Brady took extra care to never create any side stories or distractions by saying the wrong thing in front of a microphone. It generated a certain blandness that had many football fans questioning whether he'll be successful and entertaining as an analyst.

While he'll have the opportunity to prove himself in that department this coming fall, he's spent the last year making it clear that he's got quite a few opinions, and he's not afraid to share them.