Getty Tom Brady threw shade at legendary Bucs coach Tony Dungy.
Tom Brady has no problem trolling his critics on occasion, even if it is former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy. During an interview on the Shannon Sharpe podcast Club Shay Shay, the legendary Bucs coach ranked Brady as his No. 6 quarterback behind the likes of Steve Young, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and John Elway.
“I’m never putting Tom Brady ahead of Peyton Manning, so the best he can is No. 2. Cause Peyton was my guy,” Dungy noted, per NFL.com. “Who I put ahead of Tom Brady: Aaron Rodgers, John Elway, Steve Young, guys who could move. Not to say Tom wasn’t great, but that extra dimension meant something to me.”
Brady responded by essentially saying scoreboard posting a Colts banner that said “2014 AFC Finalist.” Here is the photo Brady tweeted out as a response to Dungy’s comments.
Brady’s Tweet Missed as Dungy Was Not the Colts Coach in 2014
There are a couple of problems with Brady’s tweet for it to land the virtual punch the quarterback was expecting. Dungy last coached the Colts in 2008, and if Brady meant the tweet as a jab at Manning it also failed. Manning signed with the Broncos in 2012 meaning Brady would have squared off against Andrew Luck in the 2014 AFC Championship.
As for Brady’s play on the field, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians believes his quarterback deserves more credit for the way he is playing on a new team given the lack of a traditional offseason.
“I don’t know why anyone’s criticizing Tom,” Arians said, per Pro Football Talk. “What he did at the end of the half and to start the second half [against] Minnesota — very, very few teams can score 17 points in a matter of five or six minutes. If we finished the half with 17 points, I don’t [care] how we start. He’s not getting enough credit for what he’s doing.”
Dungy Went 54-42 as Buccaneers Head Coach
Dungy was the Buccaneers head coach from 1996 to 2001 helping to transform the team from the bottom of the standings to a Super Bowl contender. The franchise opted to move on from Dungy in 2002 in favor of Jon Gruden, and longtime Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks reflected on a revealing conversation he had with his former coach. Brooks was not pleased with the Bucs’ decision to move away from Dungy, but it was the coach giving out advice despite just being fired.
“Derrick, you need to move on … because this team needs you,” Brooks recalled Dungy’s words to ESPN. “They’re looking at you. The organization needs you to move on because you guys are right there in terms of a team that could win a Super Bowl. And how you react is going to determine a lot of attitudes. He needed to move on so he could give his all to the Indianapolis Colts. And I needed to move on and welcome the new leadership in so we could continue the path of being a successful football team that wasn’t far away from a Super Bowl.”
Dungy went 54-42 as Buccaneers head coach with only one losing season during his tenure. Gruden went on to win the Super Bowl in his first season in Tampa with many of the same players Dungy developed in Tampa.
Here is a look at Dungy’s interview with Sharpe.
.@TonyDungy defends putting Tom Brady at No. 6 as his toughest QB to coach against:
“Who I put ahead of Tom Brady: Aaron Rodgers, John Elway, Steve Young, guys who could move. Not to say Tom wasn’t great, but that extra dimension meant something to me.”
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