Tom Brady’s Buccaneers apparently didn’t have a lot of fun winning Super Bowl LV during a pandemic four years ago. And with Brady in the booth and Baker Mayfield busy leading Tampa Bay to an impressive 33-16 over the Eagles on Sunday, FOX wanted an on-air reaction from its own franchise quarterback to Mayfield’s comments two weeks ago.
“I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings,” Brady said during the broadcast. “So, there was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn’t daycare. If I was going to have fun, I’d go to Disneyland with my kids.”
Soon after James Palmer accurately noted that Disney World is much more fun and much closer to Raymond James Stadium, Mayfield said his comments were taken out of context, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
So, the NFL universe attempted to focus on how Mayfield Sunday led the Bucs to points on four of their first five drives against an Eagles defense coming off a stellar Week 3 outing. Mayfield completed 30 of 47 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns, one each to Mike Evans and Trey Palmer.
Focus, that is, until former Buccaneers quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick entered the fray.
“Sick burn, @TomBrady,” Fitzpatrick tweeted on Sunday night. “Way to cut @bakermayfield down to size….can’t believe he has had the nerve to win over the Bucs locker room and fans with his playing style and personality.”
Personality is something of which Fitzpatrick has plenty. An affable, stylish character, he’s a must-watch on Amazon’s entertaining Thursday pregame show, TNF Tonight, along with Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman (and occasional gold from Marshawn Lynch).
Coincidentally, or maybe not, Fitzpatrick and that crew will be in Atlanta for the Buccaneers’ Thursday Night Football contest against the Falcons (8:15 p.m., Prime Video). In 2018 as Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback under offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Fitzpatrick reached 400 passing yards in the team’s first three games.
In fact, Fitzpatrick’s 114.4 passer rating over Tampa Bay’s first four games that year is a franchise record, while Mayfield (106.9) now ranks second in team history over any season-opening four-game stretch.
Entering the Monday night games, Mayfield’s passer rating ranks fourth in the NFL. He’s also second in touchdown passes (8) and fourth in passing yards (984).
Fitzpatrick concluded a colorful and unique 17-year career with Washington in 2021. Brady, who will forfeit any thoughts of returning to the field should the league approve him for partial ownership of the Raiders, has an NFL-record seven Super Bowl rings.