Alex Smith roasts ESPN colleagues while calling out Tom Brady
Nov 1, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Alex Smith looks on before the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Giants at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Alex Smith took no prisoners on Sunday while criticizing Tom Brady over a recent take the seven-time Super Bowl champion delivered about the current state of the NFL.
Brady had some complaints about today’s NFL during a recent appearance he made on “The Stephen A. Smith Show.” The legendary quarterback said there is a lot of “mediocrity” across the league. Brady also said many of the rules that have been implemented to protect offensive players are bad for the game. You can listen to his full comments here.
Smith, a current ESPN analyst, called Brady out during the Week 12 edition of “Sunday NFL Countdown.” He also took a shot at co-hosts Rex Ryan, Randy Moss and Tedy Bruschi by saying Brady played in the softest division in NFL history. Moss and Bruschi were teammates with Brady on the Patriots. Ryan coached against Brady in the AFC East with both the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.
Smith basically roasted all of them.
Alex Smith just made excellent points about Tom Brady’s “the NFL is worse” take while side-swiping two former Patriots and accidentally obliterating a former head coach of the Jets AND Bills. Immaculate television. pic.twitter.com/WsCBx9Y58b
— Joshua Brisco (@jbbrisco) November 26, 2023
“First off, he hasn’t been retired that long. He was just playing. He just won a Super Bowl in the current game. Is he discounting that one?” Smith asked. “And then, my biggest complaint — and no offense to three of you guys — he played in the most uncompetitive division, I think, in NFL history. You come out of training camp in this cupcake division and you’ve got a ticket to the playoffs right away. Talk about mediocre. I completely disagree with this.”
Ryan’s reaction was classic.
Smith’s goal was probably to generate attention by daring to disagree with the greatest quarterback of all time. Plenty of people have called Brady a hypocrite for complaining about NFL rules that he greatly benefitted from, though, so Smith has some company there. Ryan probably just wishes Smith could have made his point without reminding everyone of how much some of Rex’s team’s stunk.