BRADY FACES BACKLASH AS HE UNLEASHES ON FRAGILE YOUNG ATHLETES WHO ARE 'UNWILLING TO TAKE CRITICISM'
A seven-time Super Bowl champion who was drafted to play baseball by the Montreal Expos and was once a high-school basketball star, Tom Brady isn't usually associated with hockey.
Nonetheless, the 48-year-old Fox Sports announcer recently joined the popular Spittin' Chiclets podcast, where he quickly found common ground with former NHL players Paul Bissonnette, Keith Yandle and Ryan Whitney.
When Whitney complained about so-called 'players' coaches' in sports being replaced with disciplinarians, Brady did not hesitate to vent his frustration with younger generations.
'But why do we need these coaches that are like, "I always point out first like all the mistakes I made," and I'm like, "Jesus Christ."
'Why is this generation so,' Brady said before being interrupted.
'Soft?' asked Yandle.
The problem, as Brady sees it, is that younger athletes struggle to take criticism.
'Well, they're just unwilling to take criticism for lack of performance,' Brady said, as quoted by Outback.com. 'Like, why do we allow this with parents? Why do we allow it in schools? Why do we allow it with coaching, where it's okay to mess up and screw up in front of your teammates because you're not prepared or you didn't put the effort in? Why can't we call people out on that?
'Why do you have to apologize for trying to get the best out of somebody?' he continued. 'That's what needs to change.'
Brady, the Las Vegas Raiders minority owner, did not refer to his own last-place team in his rant.
He also pointed the finger at, well, finger pointing.
'How bad is it, teams where, you know, you're always pointing the finger at somebody else and looking to — again, today's culture — you lose a game, you pick up your phone, you open your social media,' Brady said.
'"Who do we blame for this? Or your parents? Oh, so-and-so is the reason, or you know, your agent. Oh man, he's the reason why you're losing."
'And it just fractures this team. These people aren't involved in your team, right? They don't know.'
A father of three, Brady's eldest son, Jack, is currently a high-school basketball player in the New York area.
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