Quarterback Baker Mayfield generated some headlines when he revealed during a recent podcast appearance that he'd learned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers allegedly were "pretty stressed out" and "weren’t having as much fun" when Tom Brady was with the club from 2020 through the 2022 season.
Todd Bowles served as Brady's head coach during TB12's final campaign as an active player. On Wednesday, a reporter asked Bowles about "Mayfield coming in loose" last year "compared to Brady being business oriented" as a team leader.
"I wouldn't know anything about that," Bowles interestingly responded, according to the Buccaneers' website. "Tom was two years ago. He's a Hall of Famer. He's the greatest player ever and there's probably nothing else to talk about."
Brady signed with the Buccaneers in March 2020 as a six-time Super Bowl champion and then cemented himself as the GOAT in the eyes of many when he guided the franchise to a title in his first season with the organization. Mayfield, meanwhile, was simply trying to resurrect his career when he first signed with Tampa Bay in March 2023, roughly one month after Brady retired from playing on a long-term basis.
"The biggest thing he did was not try to be Tom and the biggest thing we did was not want him to be Tom," Bowles said about Mayfield on Wednesday. "...You know, you put his shoes on the shelf, and you buy a new pair, and you break them in, and Baker [has] come in and he's picked up the system well. The guys have gravitated around him. He has a place he calls home. We trust him, he trusts us and he's fit in very well here."
Mayfield piloted the 2023 Buccaneers to the division title and a home playoff win. He and 2-0 Tampa Bay will next welcome the 0-2 Denver Broncos to Raymond James Stadium this coming Sunday.
"Obviously," Mayfield said about Brady's tenure with the Bucs, "Tom did it his way and was unbelievably successful with it. A lot of that – just being my authentic self and the best version of me – is [that] this place allowed me to do that. Any time you're having more success than they did in 2022 (when Tampa Bay lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs), you're going to have more fun."
Brady's public divorce from Gisele Bundchen likely impacted the Buccaneers throughout his final season, and it seems his presence still somewhat hovers over the franchise even though he now works as Fox's lead in-game analyst. One wonders if Brady will eventually respond to the claims shared by Mayfield this week.
