Quarterback Baker Mayfield generated headlines earlier this month when he suggested the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were "pretty stressed out" and "weren’t having as much fun" when Tom Brady was the team's starter from 2020 through the 2022 season.
While calling Tampa Bay's impressive 33-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles for Fox on Sunday, Brady responded to Mayfield and noted that he "thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings." Following the victory, Mayfield was asked about Brady's retort.
"I think a lot of that got taken out of context, and none of it was personal by any means," Mayfield explained, per Jenna Laine of ESPN. "It's just what he demanded of the guys, and that's the aura of Tom Brady. And that's what he did to bring a championship here. Nothing personal, but yeah, talking before the game, he's obviously happy for me and he knows the guys, so he knows how much I enjoy throwing to Mike [Evans] and Chris [Godwin] [because] he got to do the same. It's fun to be able to talk about the same experience with a guy like that."
Brady finished his first season with Tampa Bay by guiding the club to a Super Bowl LV win, but his public divorce from Gisele Bundchen hovered over the organization throughout his final campaign as an active player. Meanwhile, Mayfield helped the 2023 Buccaneers claim the division crown and notch a home postseason victory over the Eagles before he signed a new three-year contract to stay with Tampa Bay this past offseason.
"It was a big pot of treasure and very deserving of what he did last year," Brady said during the Fox broadcast about Mayfield's deal, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website. "This whole team came together."
As Mayfield alluded to, he was spotted chatting with Brady before Sunday's contest. Brady later named Mayfield his player of the game after the 29-year-old passed for 347 yards and two touchdowns to go along with a rushing score in the double-digit victory.
"Like I said -- some things got taken out of context," Mayfield added during his postgame news conference about Brady's comments. "He did it his own way and that's why he has seven rings. So, not much else needs to be said."
Mayfield and the 3-1 Buccaneers will need to move on from Sunday in a hurry, as they play at the 2-2 Atlanta Falcons this coming Thursday night. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Bucs as 2.5-point underdogs for that matchup.
