Former Chiefs QB Alex Smith shuts down Tom Brady’s viral take on ‘mediocre’ state of NFL: “He played in the most uncompetitive division”

Tom Brady recently went viral for his controversial comments during an appearance on the Stephen A. Smith show. Among his many hot takes, he basically called out the entire NFL, claiming that he sees too much "mediocrity" from a competitive standpoint.

Apparently, Alex Smith, another former quarterback who Brady used to compete against on the football field, was a bit offended by the comments. Smith fired back at the seven-time Super Bowl champion. He disagreed with his take on the quality of the NFL as a whole. Smith did so during a recent appearance on 'Sunday NFL Countdown' on ESPN prior to the Week 12 slate of games.

Smith said:

“He hasn't been retired that long. He was just playing, like he just won a Super Bowl in the current game, like are you discounting that one? And then my biggest complaint with this, and no offense to you guys, all three of you guys, he played in the most uncompetitive division, I think, in NFL history.

"I mean, you come out of training camp, the biggest cupcake division, you got in the playoffs right away, like talk about mediocre. I completely disagree with this…”

Alex Smith was referring to Tom Brady's most recent Super Bowl ring that he won with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the "modern game" following the 2020 NFL season. His reference to the "most uncompetitive division in NFL history" was in reference to Brady's dominance over the AFC East spanning two decades.

His New England Patriots won the division title 17 times in 19 seasons. Smith feels this is because the rest of the division was weak, but it may have simply been that the Patriots were just that good. Winning six rings and nine conference championships during that same timeframe justifies that.

When Alex Smith said "no offense to you guys," it was directed toward Tedy Bruschi, Randy Moss, and Rex Ryan. Bruschi and Moss were Tom Brady's former teammates. Meanwhile, Ryan spent time in the division as head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.

While the trio didn't necessarily seem offended by his response, Smith clearly seemed to take issue with Brady's opinion of mediocrity around the NFL. For what it's worth, the two quarterbacks only faced off against each other twice during their careers, with Smith surprisingly holding a 2-0 all-time record head-to-head with Brady.

What did Tom Brady say about the NFL being mediocre?

Tom Brady comments

During a recent appearance on the Stephen A. Smith show, Tom Brady had plenty of bold opinions about the current state of the NFL. Apparently, he's not impressed with the level of competition across the league. He used the term "mediocrity" to describe what he has been seeing.

Brady stated:

"I think there's a lot of mediocrity in today's NFL, I don't see the excellence that I saw in the past ... I think the coaching isn't as good as it was. I don't think the development of young players is as good as it was. I don't think the schemes are as good as they were ...

"I think the rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the actual performance of the game. So, I just think the product in my opinion, is less than what it's been."

It's an interesting take, considering Tom Brady is not far removed from being a major part of the NFL product on the football field, as pointed out by Alex Smith when he disagreed with the comments. Brady retired during the 2023 NFL offseason, so this is the first year he hasn't been a part of since his rookie 2000 season.