Tom Brady and defenders don’t get along off the field, either.
After the Buccaneers quarterback jabbed at what he perceives as the aggressive nature of defenses that think less and attack more, former Steelers standout linebacker Ryan Shazier jabbed right back.
Brady, as a guest on ESPN’s “Manningcast,” said defensive players are like “dogs chasing cars,” which did not sit well with Shazier.
“For him to be that good, I think it’s kind of disrespectful to a lot of the players he’s played before in his past,” Shazier told Yahoo Sports, while adding that he respects the legendary quarterback. “Obviously everybody’s not Tom Brady. I just feel that — for somebody to say that, that’s basically like saying guys on the defensive side of the ball aren’t intelligent enough to play offense. I would beg to differ.
“I feel like a lot of guys on the defensive side of the ball that chose to be on defense because, obviously, they like hitting people. But also that they might be really good at diagnosing or understanding plays as well. For him to be somebody that knows the game of football so well, I thought that was a little ignorant.”
It certainly seemed as if Brady was alluding to defensive players’ intelligence levels.
“Have you ever been in some of those defensive meeting rooms?” Brady said while watching and commentating during the Saints’ win over the Seahawks this week on “Monday Night Football.” “You wonder why they play defense and after about two minutes you go, ‘Yep, they could never be an offensive player.’”
Shazier, who has worked on podcasts with The Ringer and has begun calling games with ESPN, has been out of football since Dec. 4, 2017, when he attempted to make a tackle and suffered a severe spinal injury that left doubt about whether he would walk again. He walked past those doubts.
“I’m feeling great. I can get around like I once did. I’m not running any 4.3s any more. But I can still get around pretty soundly. I’m blessed. I can enjoy time with my family — I can pretty much do everything I want,” the 29-year-old told Yahoo. “There’s a few things that I can’t do. But that’s the territory of being paralyzed, coming back from a spinal cord injury. Pretty much everything I envision myself being able to do, I’m able to do it. I’m thankful for that.”