Tom Brady Explains NFL Take: ‘We’re Asking Pro Players to Play College Football… It’s Way More Checkers than It Is Chess’

Just over a week ago, Tom Brady said "there's a lot of mediocrity in today's NFL," creating a league and media-wide debate.

That comment didn't sit well with some players, including three-time Pro Bowler Alex Smith. Yet the seven-time Super Bowl champion doubled down on his remarks in a new episode of his podcast, "Let's Go!"

“The pro game is reflecting what the college game is as opposed to the college game reflecting what the pro game is,” Brady said.

“We’re asking pro players to play college football. That’s the biggest difference I see. It’s way more checkers than it is chess. I tried to play chess. I wanted to have three moves ahead of you at all times.”

“I think the point is, you want to see the game continue to grow and evolve,” Brady added. “That means better coaching, better quarterback play, and better defensive play-calling. I think a big difference too is the lack of time that coaches have with players, coaches have together in the building, people don’t understand the full picture a lot of the time.”

Brady emphasized he was the ultimate author of the offense, in the sense that he had final say at the line of scrimmage.

This, in his mind, contrasts the majority of modern-day pro football wherein coaches try to “control the game from the sideline," hindering the development of quarterbacks.

"You don’t have the answer for everything that’s happening on the field,” Brady said.

Only the game's elite, Brady hypothesized, such as Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Patrick Mahomes have that capacity.

“Ultimately, as a quarterback, I had all the things at my disposal to get us into a good play. … I had the ability to change the play to get us to a play that I thought would be more successful.

“I just don’t see as much of that in the NFL,” Brady continued. “There’s a lot less time that people are spending on it. That’s just the reality.

"When I started, there was a lot more time we spent on it. Over those years, I developed a lot of those tools in my arsenal to get us into the best play.”