New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is no stranger to criticism. In the first five seasons of his NFL career, he was criticized by reporters, opposing players and fans alike.
When there is an opportunity to outshine Jones, very few choose the noble route. Rather, many continue to cling to the low-hanging fruit in order to score points with the anti-Jones community.
You can now add Tom Brady, Eli Manning’s two-time victim, to that group.
Speaking to Stephen A. Smith at Fanatics Fest in New York City on Friday, Brady discussed the challenges of his upcoming career as a sportscaster. In particular, Brady said he worries about being too critical of quarterbacks who make mistakes during the game.
However, Brady decided to highlight a single quarterback: Daniel Jones.
New York Giants QB Daniel Jones catches Tom Brady’s stray #FanaticsFest pic.twitter.com/vWB7qX7I6R
– Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) 16 August 2024
“I just don’t want to be too critical because in some ways I don’t necessarily know exactly what the problem was on this play,” Brady said. “Let’s say Daniel Jones throws an interception.
Instead of booing Brady, the New York fans laughed and cheered loudly. A rare moment of being on the side of the opponent.
“I didn’t mean to say that. I wasn’t even critical of Daniel Jones,” Brady said. “Maybe I was a little bit.”
Brady has never hidden the fact that he lost two Super Bowls to the Manning-led Giants. Those losses haunt him to this day, and before his second retirement, Brady admitted there is no team he likes to beat more than Big Blue.
“The team I would most like to beat is the Giants, there’s no doubt about that, because they really took a lot away, you know…” Brady said on the Let’s go! Podcast in 2021. “I’ve always joked with Eli, but yeah, and I think he likes that I bring it up all the time. To reiterate, I don’t like losing to these guys, so I’m happy when we beat them.”
Brady should be objective in his role as commentator, but like Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, we doubt that will be possible.
