Michael Irvin: I Would Rally Teammates To Support Tom Brady
October 18th, 2022
Tom Brady chatter.
Michael Irvin said it shouldn’t have come to this.
Irvin, “The Playmaker,” the Hall of Fame wide receiver who now gets paid big bucks to holler loud on NFL Network and BSPN, said if Tom Brady played this smartly, no one would be harping on him for going to creepy Bob Kraft’s wedding in New York on Friday, after which Brady allegedly missed (an excused absence) a walkthrough and a team meeting.
Of course, this issue was compounded when the Bucs lost to the lowly Steelers the next day.
Irvin said Brady could have easily made travel arrangements where he wouldn’t have missed anything and this wouldn’t have been an issue.
And instead of potentially splintering the Bucs’ locker room, Irwin said he would lead a charge to rally Bucs teammates around their quarterback in his time of need, so Irvin told Joe’s good friend Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post.
“If I’m on that football team, I know that my quarterback is going through stuff personally. I can see that in the news. I can see that in his face. I’m trying to huddle around him,” Irvin said. “The national media is ripping him for going to the wedding Friday, missing practice and then playing that way.
“What I would do if I’m in that locker room, that would make me all that much more want to huddle around my quarterback and say, ‘Hey, they’re being unfair to him! Let’s make sure we step up and do what we need to do to protect him, because he came here and helped us win a championship!’ I’m not in that locker room saying, ‘I can’t believe he went to the owner’s wedding! I can’t believe he missed walkthrough!’ I’m trying to comfort Tom Brady.”
How would Irvin have avoided scheduling controversy? He said Brady should have used a private jet and taken off after the wedding to jet back to Tampa early Saturday morning to rejoin his team. Had Brady not missed (excused absence) a meeting or a walkthrough, no one would be griping about Brady attending Kraft’s wedding.
The first thing Joe thought of was, how do we know Brady didn’t fly on a private jet to and from New York?
Are we really to believe Brady flies commercial or even coach, where he has to sit among the steerage?
Todd Bowles has twice said this was no big deal and more players miss real meetings and real practices because of personal business.
Joe sides with Bowles here. And besides, Brady isn’t the reason the Bucs lost to the Steelers. His offensive offensive coordinator was.
October 18th, 2022 at 5:14 am
Michael Irvin loves Brady. Irvin always speaks highly of Brady Irvin always has Brady’s back
October 18th, 2022 at 6:38 am
I find it amusing that people say Brady missed this practice, Brady took a vacation, then he missed this practice…but non of this is his fault. Brady is the GOAT, but even GOATS can make bad choices. I’m not saying that the 3-3 start is ALL Brady’s fault. But some of it is. And to say other wise is just silly.
October 18th, 2022 at 7:00 am
Stop the excuses where else can you go and do a half ass job and still make millions in the real world you’d be unemployed
October 18th, 2022 at 7:05 am
I did notice when Brady was chucking the ball in the dirt just in front of his not-so-open recievers that, besides a defender on their backs, a safety was right behind them slightly deeper.
Had to throw it low cuz he couldn’t trust his receivers to not bat the ball in the air.
October 18th, 2022 at 7:12 am
The whole team looked like they missed the entire week of practice and walk thru. I think this is all about the coaching . Looks like BA left to early.
October 18th, 2022 at 7:28 am
Come on!!! Brady chose not to come back for the meeting……he certainly wasn’t trying to work out a schedule with Delta…..
You can’t make any excuses for it…….it was selfish…..pure and simple…..he didn’t want to leave late that night or early in the morning….it was his choice.
Now, did that help lose the game….probably not…..but it’s not the action of a leader. A leader makes that small sacrifice to make the team a priority.
Now, let’s move on.
October 18th, 2022 at 7:32 am
Why did Kraft get married during the season anyways? Faux pas.
October 18th, 2022 at 8:02 am
Why not get married anytime of the year?
October 18th, 2022 at 8:29 am
No shot that loss was on Brady. The dude is literally the GOAT what do you think one team meeting was going to do? Like what are we really talking about here? One missed meeting and one walk through and all of a sudden the greatest of all time doesn’t know how to play? It was poor play calling, poor execution. Our rookie LG was getting destroyed the coaching staff needed to pick up on that and get the kid some help. The Steelers were down there top DB, and 3 corners and yet we managed to feature Mike Evans how many times? And don’t say there wasn’t enough time to pass. TB12 is the KING of the short passing game and getting the ball out quick. If you don’t want to go deep out of fear don’t, we could of dink and dunked all the way down. None of those DB’s can keep up with Godwin or Evans PERIOD
October 18th, 2022 at 8:31 am
OK, I’m over the Sunday debacle now. The real question is, are the Bucs over it? Their performance at Carolina this week will be a real tell. Are they headed for the cellar or will they turn this thing around and achieve their goal of being division champs? All facets of the team organization including coaching, game scheming, play calling, and execution have to improve.
October 18th, 2022 at 8:33 am
Brady’s play may not be the reason (in reality, he has been pretty average this yr so far), but look at the conversation the past 8 months. Anything but football…tampering, vacations, brokered deals, wedding trips, divorce… Joe, how can you possibly not see how TB12 has dragged his team into his personal roller coaster and it is a major distraction that only compounds the fact that both lines and coaching have downgraded. Tommy is not bonding with new offense weapons, he is so in his own head (rightfully) that it is hard to image he has the capacity to nurture an Otton, work on timing with Gage, help Miller bld confidence, bolster the rookie lines resolve. Instead, when he does have the time, he bails on his team to kiss a billionaires backside. He is not being a team player, when his team really needs one because coaches are floundering. And now, rookies ate expected to coddle the goat. Perspective: Brady has marital issues, Otton’s mim just died. TB12 needs to rally for that young man, not the other way around.
October 18th, 2022 at 8:34 am
Can’t stand Irvin on TV but he does make a good point. In any event, still not seeing eye to eye with Joe here. Sure, Leftwich was atrocious last week, but Brady is the leader of this team. Cannot gain the support and trust of your team mates when you think the rules apply to them but not yourself. Brady owns a lot of the responsibility for last week’s debacle. Now, looking ahead to this weekend, Brady needs to take a page out of Peyton Manning’s book to deal with this pathetic Leftwich problem we have. Check out of the moron play calls. I want to hear it. Omaha! Omaha!
October 18th, 2022 at 8:35 am
Brady doesn’t look like himself, but the smarter thing to do was rest Brady vs the Steelers, just like an MLB pitcher. No one has considered that the Bucs should’ve beaten the Steelers with their second string QB. Why not? Pitt was down half a defense and started a rookie QB. If Brady needed time to rest, feels beat up, or whatever… what BETTER week to rest him?
October 18th, 2022 at 8:36 am
The guy to rally the offense,Jensen, and the guy to rally the defense,JPP, are unavailable. But honestly if you need motivation to get ready to play with the goat in what is probably his last year then that’s a problem. If the locker room is divided because of Brady? Doubtful.
October 18th, 2022 at 8:44 am
I hate to say this, I really do, but some of the guys at the local sports bar predicted this, when Bowles was made coach.
These guys are from New York, and remember Bowles from when he was coach.
They call him “Toilet Bowles”
I really hope Todd can get the team back under control again, because we have the Ravens coming pretty soon.
October 18th, 2022 at 8:44 am
It does beg the question, why is Jensen invisible? He could still be on the sideline firing up the o-line and imparting wisdom. Wtf is going on with this guy? Some weird sauce her, from to seeming innocent play that resulted in such a devastating injury to the secrecy of the injury. This team has way too much drama around it for any serious focus
October 18th, 2022 at 8:51 am
The Offensive Coordinator? You basically mean Brady, then, right?
Who makes the final decision right before the snap on which of the 2-3 plays we’re going to run? Brady.
Who makes the decision for where he’s throwing the football? Brady.
Brady had a bad game as defacto OC and as QB.
All this negative press about it will prob have a positive benefit for the Bucs this season, so I’m fine with some of the criticism.
But Brady is the GOAT, so people look for any opportunity to throw stones because there aren’t many opportunities for that.
Let’s move on to next week
October 18th, 2022 at 9:08 am
They play like a team that misses real meetings and real practices. WTF??? You get paid millions and millions and can’t commit to be there every day for 6 mos. That’s ridiculous of Bowles to say. Tell it to our soldiers on deployment making next to nothing for their time. Make sure to coddle the Gen Z & Millennial crowd. Don’t hurt their feelings or you’ll lose them forever.
October 18th, 2022 at 9:23 am
I am with you, PSL Bob. If we suffer another fiasco at Carolina then I will begin to panic.
Chris@Apple, I have been counting on Bowles to have learned from what happened in New York “big time” as Gronk would put it. I will be watching how he manages our current situation even more closely now.
October 18th, 2022 at 9:56 am
Brady stayed later to visit his older son Jack who lives in NYC. That’s why he missed walkthrough. It would be awful if he flew to NYC and didn’t visit his son. He doesn’t seem him very much during the season
October 18th, 2022 at 10:03 am
Bigmac you seem to be the one with the feeling hurt
October 18th, 2022 at 10:39 am
All of it is an issue people point to this or that is a bigger issue sure that maybe the case but it all adds up to the big issue of the bucs looking like a bad team terrible communication bad game plans it all adds up. It is a team game so all issues need to be fixed because they all add up to terrible play.
October 18th, 2022 at 11:08 am
It’s funny how the tables turn…. most of you guys were screaming for BA to get fired and wishing he would’ve left sooner. But now everyone is screaming where is BA
October 18th, 2022 at 12:11 pm
A lot of you here have no idea what its like going thru a divorce..with children. We men say it ain’t nothin just to be tough. But it is a Mother…. I know. Been there and done that. By the time everything is calculated, Toms gonna be sayin, Might have been cheaper..to keep her. Because he will be taken to the bank. Sure they will make him feel better by..knocking off a couple mil here and there. But in the end, he gets screwed. So don’t minimalize it. He is going thru a lot now.
October 18th, 2022 at 12:17 pm
My Momma say’s that Brady and Byron aren’t the main problem here. Brady can’t throw deeper without Goedeke getting walked back into Brady’s face. Byron can’t scheme those deeper routes since he sees Tom getting wacked by the lack of blocking. Replace Goedeke. It’ll allow Tom more time to throw and you will see more of those longer routes being completed and running lanes will start to open up. It’ll fix the chemistry of the whole line. It will invigorate the entire line and the team as a whole.
You wonder why Evans wasn’t getting the ball? Look at the hit Brady took on the one long completion to Godwin? Brady can’t afford to take those hits, especially with the impact his personal issues are having on his body, but also on his psyche. He’s in self preservation mode.
October 18th, 2022 at 12:25 pm
Mike Johnson Says: A lot of you here have no idea what its like going thru a divorce..with children.
Well said, Mike!
October 18th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
Joe i think you missed the point- it wasn’t about whether he was or wasn’t on a private jet, it was about being with the team for walk throughs on Saturday.
October 18th, 2022 at 3:47 pm
I said this before Irving did. A Realist-inspired repost:
Hunter’s Crack Pipe Says:
October 16th, 2022 at 3:03 pm
If you truly feel morally obligated to attend a function in the middle of a work week, there is a professional way to handle it. You make your appearance, greet the hosts, then you turn around and travel straight to the airport for your return flight.
You don’t hang around all night, get sh** faced at the reception, and miss work hung over the next day. At what point will the team stop taking Brady seriously? He obviously has a lot of credibility points saved up to go with his Staff of Youth, but sheesh. WTH
October 18th, 2022 at 5:03 pm
I love Tom Brady but I think this was a miscalculation on his part. Not because it caused the Bucs to lose, it didn’t. The optics are terrible, it makes it look like he is not all in and invites speculation on every talk show that he was being selfish and getting special treatment and doubt about his commitment could possibly leak into the locker room. The Bucs are a mess and maybe Brady needs to address the team and talk about all the garbage and put everything to rest. Try to rally the entire team.. BTW, Brady don’t fly commercial.
October 18th, 2022 at 9:20 pm
Guys, enough nonsense about Brady being selfish or an issue. He won a championship with arguably one of the worst franchises in history, not to mention 6 other rings and a couple more close calls with the patriots. He’s entitled to make a mistake every now and then.
He’s the greatest ever and is going through a rough time. He will make adjustments and improve.