Bill Belichick addresses Baker Mayfield, Tom Brady comments

Bill Belichick coached Tom Brady with the New England Patriots from 2000 through the 2019 NFL season and, thus, knows plenty about the type of competitor Brady was throughout his legendary career. 

During a Monday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," Belichick addressed how signal-caller Baker Mayfield said in September that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were "pretty stressed out" and "weren’t having as much fun" when Brady was the team's QB1 from 2020 through the 2022 campaign. 

"Let me tell you something," Belichick explained, as shared by Gio Rivera of NESN. "Winning six Super Bowl championships was fun. Going to nine Super Bowls was fun. Winning those AFC Championship games, that was fun. The fun was really the winning." 

Belichick offered his comments roughly 24 hours after Brady said on Sunday while calling Tampa Bay's 33-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles for Fox that he "thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings" and that he wasn't running a "daycare" with the Buccaneers. Linebacker Lavonte David, who played alongside Brady with Tampa Bay, later noted that such a response was "typical Tom." At the same time, Mayfield insisted on Sunday his original remarks "got taken out of context." 

Unsurprisingly, Belichick sided with the future Hall of Famer, who helped him earn six championship rings while with the Patriots. 

"Look," Belichick said during the "McAfee Show" segment, "Tom could have fun and he could pull pranks and make fun of people and be made fun of and all that, but when it was time for business, he was all business. Whether that was in the meeting room or walkthrough on the field, there was nothing more important to him than everything being done right — not just his job but the players around him. The proper timing, the proper alignments, and so forth, and anybody who played with Tom would support that."

Outsiders may never know what Mayfield heard about Brady's Tampa Bay tenure. Logic suggests that at least some in the locker room weren't thrilled that Brady's public divorce seemingly impacted the Buccaneers throughout his final season as an active player. 

Nevertheless, Mayfield will likely keep Brady's name out of his mouth for some time.