In the legendary, now almost mythical 23-year NFL career of former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, one word that was never used to describe him, at least not by anyone serious, was “mediocre.” From the moment he took the field to replace injured Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe in the second quarter of the second game of the 2001 season, Brady demonstrated how seriously he takes the phrase that he adopted as his motto — the phrase that he says his older sister, a standout collegiate softball player, gave to him imprinted on a special coin.
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“Commitment to excellence.”
Brady led the Patriots to their first Super Bowl victory as a franchise in the 2001 campaign, his first as a starting quarterback, and followed that with an unprecedented five more Super Bowl trophies as a Patriot — plus a seventh in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after departing New England as a free agent after the 2019 season at age 42. He never led a team to a losing season until 2022, his final year in the league, when the Bucs finished at 8-9. But even then, Tampa Bay won the NFC South and got into the playoffs.
Brady Faces High Expectations With Raiders
As a player, there was never anything “average” about Brady. But after making a career move to become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, that is the accusation he now faces — that his performance so far has been exactly that, “average.”
The characterization comes from Athlon Sports contributor and Sirius XM Radio host Andrew Perloff, who on Wednesday published his evaluation of Brady’s performance in helping to run the Raiders so far.
NFL owners approved Brady’s purchase, with investor Tom Wagner of Knighthead Capital, of a five percent stake in the Raiders for $220 million last October. Exactly what the future Hall of Fame quarterback’s role is in running the team remains unclear.
But Brady has been forthright in saying that he will take an active role, though in a speech to the organization he cautioned that “I am not in here to solve every problem, I cannot do that anyway.”
As Perloff pointed out, however, “Expectations will rise quickly. A string of near-.500 seasons would be considered a failure. He owns five percent of the team, but he’ll own 90 percent of the blame if the Raiders don’t win.”
Only ‘Watered-Down Consolation Prizes’ So Far
So far, however, Perloff rates the Raiders personnel moves under Brady as “just average.” Brady takes on what Perloff admits is a difficult assignment — rebuilding the winning tradition of a proud franchise that has played only two playoff games since 2002, losing both, and has not won a Super Bowl since 1983 — a 41-year dry spell that dates back to the Raiders’ days of playing in Los Angeles.
So far, however, the Raiders’ primary moves in Brady’s tenure have been bringing head coach Pete Carroll, who will turn 74 years old in Week 2 of the upcoming season, out of retirement, and signing 34-year-old Geno Smith as the team’s quarterback.
The Raiders reportedly failed to sign Brady’s first choice as head coach, former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and whiffed on a trade for future Hall of Fame quarterback Matthew Stafford.
“Their pivot to Carroll and Smith feels like watered-down consolation prizes. Not a bold strategy for reinventing a franchise,” Perloff wrote. “The initial flush of excitement about Brady’s new role won’t last long.
