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Tom Brady backs Jerod Mayo, talks Bill Belichick and broadcasting on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’
"I think Jerod does an incredible job relating to everybody in the locker room, all the coaches."
Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, with the future Hall of Famer touching on several topics.
Along with giving his take on the Patriots’ decision to hire Jerod Mayo as head coach, Brady discussed Bill Belichick’s coaching, his own career in broadcasting and much more.
Here are a few highlights from Brady’s interview with McAfee:
Brady backs Mayo as Patriots’ new head coach
In what has been a recurring trend since Mayo was named the 15th head coach in Patriots history, Brady praised his fellow teammate and team captain for his leadership ability, both on and off the field.
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Brady, who played alongside Mayo for seven seasons in Foxborough, said he believes Mayo will do a “great job” as New England’s next leader on the sideline.
“Jerod was a great leader. A great captain. A great friend,” Brady said. “I think he had a tremendous amount of success in football and then had success in other parts of his life when he retired.
“Him coming back into coaching, I think is great for the NFL and certainly great for the Patriots. He’s got a great understanding of how things need to be done. I think Jerod does an incredible job relating to everybody in the locker room, all the coaches, and I think he’ll do a great job.”
Mayo will be handed the unenviable task of trying to right the ship for a Patriots franchise that plummeted to the bottom of the NFL standings with a 4-13 record.
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The former All-Pro linebacker is still in the process of filling out his staff, with New England still on the prowl for an offensive coordinator and several other key coaching roles.
Hitting the broadcast booth
Brady has spent most of his first year in (official) retirement traveling and relaxing, but the 46-year-old QB will be involved with the NFL once again during the 2024 season.
Except this time, he’ll be trading in his spikes and jersey for a suit and a microphone.
Brady signed a reported 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox Sports in May 2022 to take over as the network’s No. 1 NFL analyst — with Brady expected to join Fox’ top play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt moving forward.
Brady later announced he was taking a year off before joining the broadcast booth for the 2024 season, fueling speculation that Brady was potentially “reconsidering” the move. Brady pushed back against said assertions last May, and stressed again on Tuesday that he was excited to make his Fox debut this fall.
“Next year I’m going to be calling a Super Bowl for FOX, which is going to be incredible… I’ve been working hard on my FOX broadcast opportunity, which I’m super excited about,” Brady told McAfee. “Spoke to a lot of broadcasters from this entire season, just learning from them, current broadcasters, ones that have done play-by-play, analysis. It’s been really fun.
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“I connected with a lot of fun people, I got a lot of great notes. I can probably write a broadcasting playbook at this point. But it’s been something I’ve challenged myself with. And I really look forward to getting on there and calling games for FOX starting in September.”
Of course, Brady’s arrival next season means that current Fox Sports No. 1 NFL analyst Greg Olsen will be bumped out of said spot. Olsen, a former All-Pro tight end, has drawn plenty of praise for his work alongside Burkhardt.
“I think Greg’s done an incredible job. I have so much respect for him. How he approaches his job, he’s super prepared in what he does,” Brady told McAfee. “I think he does an incredible job every time he’s on. I love listening to him. And I’m just gonna go in there and do the best I can do with my own perspective.”
Tough love
With Bill Belichick and the Patriots formally parting ways this month after 24 seasons together, Belichick’s past missteps have been put under a microscope as of late — including the fracturing of his working relationship with Brady.
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While Belichick’s demanding approach with Brady — just like the rest of New England’s roster — played an instrumental role in the team’s success, that stringent mindset carried over into Brady’s final seasons before the legendary QB eventually left in free agency in March 2020.
As expected, Brady didn’t harp much on what prompted his departure from Foxborough and Belichick’s role in it during Tuesday’s interview. But Brady did stress that Belichick’s tough love elevated both his game and the rest of his teammates over the years.
“I think I was coached pretty hard in high school, I was coached pretty hard in college, and I was used to that style,” Brady said. “I think we all got to the Patriots, and when we did things right, there was a lot of team success. When we didn’t do things right, I think what I appreciated about that environment — and what I see in the business world a lot — and I don’t see it as much in NFL teams right now, is accountability. I think that there’s a certain way that the team needs to operate in order to be successful. And I was OK with that.
“If the coach was going to be hard on me, I was going to accept the difficult coaching because I needed to hear it. And again, it motivated me. There were a lot of players on our team that would see me get coached hard and then they would say, ‘OK, I’ve gotta step my game up because I don’t want to get yelled at. If Tom’s getting yelled at, I don’t want to get yelled at. How do I up my game?’ And that’s what accountability looks like. You can’t have your ego so big that any criticism is going to lessen your confidence.”
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For Brady, that accountability and exacting attitude put forth in August and September often paid dividends when the Patriots were thrust into high-pressure situations in January and February.
“You better be tough at that point,” Brady said. “You better not go in there with a weak attitude. You’ve gotta go in there and embrace the challenge, embrace the opportunity. You’re going to be tested. If your coach tests you, and your teammates test you, then you can go beat your competition.
“If they’re not testing you and you’re waiting for game day to figure things you, you’re at a disadvantage. So I loved the fact that I was pushed every day to be my best. And I loved that I had the ability to push my teammates every day to be their best.”
Belichick’s icy demeanor and curt response during postgame pressers might have become synonymous with the future Hall-of-Fame head coach.
But Brady believes a similar culture of accountability and mental toughness is present on all NFL teams with championship pedigrees.
“There’s only one way to do it, in my opinion,” Brady said. “I don’t think [Chiefs head coach] Andy Reid lets his players get off the hook. I don’t think [49ers head coach] Kyle Shanahan lets his players get off the hook. I see those guys with the very disciplined style, I respect those programs for how they run it, and I hope all the teams can learn from that.”
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