Tom Brady blasts back at Baker Mayfield's "stressed out" comments: "This wasn't daycare"

BOSTON -- When Tom Brady left New England for Tampa Bay, he brought a championship mindset with him that turned the Buccaneers into Super Bowl champions. Now a broadcaster for Fox, Brady responded to claims by current Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield that his approach to the game made some of his Tampa teammates feel "stressed out."

Mayfield is now in his second season with the Buccaneers after taking over for Brady following his retirement in 2022. After winning six Super Bowls during his 20 seasons with the Patriots, Brady led the Buccaneers to a title in 2020 in his first of three seasons with the franchise.

Brady's determination to win was like few others, and he immediately transformed the Buccaneers from a middling playoff hopeful to a Super Bowl contender. That all started with his laser focus in practice and his win-at-all-costs mentality on the field. And if Brady saw a teammate slacking in either, he was going to let them know that was unacceptable.

Earlier this week, Mayfield said that approach had Buccaneers players "stressed out," and added that he was brought in to make things a little more fun again. 

"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," said Mayfield. "They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football for guys who weren't having as much fun."

Brady was in the booth for Sunday's Eagles-Buccaneers game on FOX, and had the best stretch of his young broadcasting career when play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt gave him a chance to respond to Mayfield's comments. Brady went back to his playing days and delivered a pretty savage line in response to Mayfield.

"I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings,'' said Brady. "So, it was the mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn't daycare. If I was going to have fun, I was going to Disneyland with my kids."

Burkhardt pressed Brady for a little more, and the former quarterback said that he was always trying to push his teammates toward greatness -- which is what great teammates and leaders do in the NFL.

"There's a way to approach this game and it's with the right mindset to try push each other outside of their comfort zone. Great teammates do that," he said. "You come in -- I have someone like [Rob] Gronkowski and [Mike] Evans -- there are high expectations for us. We have to make sure we go out there and deliver."

Brady met with Mayfield before Sunday's broadcast, so maybe the two cleared the air a bit on the field. But it's clear from Sunday's broadcast that Brady still has his competitive mindset, which he said he wouldn't apologize for after giving his thoughts on Mayfield.

Mayfield's comments weren't particularly aimed at Brady or the approach that he brought to Tampa in 2020, and were more about the Buccaneers after Brady's retirement when the expectations for the franchise were low. He helped the 2023 Bucs exceed those expectations with a run to the postseason, and has the Bucs at 2-1 so far this season. Mayfield clearly has a different personality than Brady and a different approach as a leader.

But Brady was only concerned with one thing when he was playing, and that was winning Super Bowls. While his determination to do so may have made some teammates feel stressed out, it resulted in seven titles over Brady's 23 NFL seasons.

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