Yahoo Finance Will Chase Young's comments about Tom Brady backfire? Buccaneers face Washington on Yahoo Sports app
There’s nothing wrong with some trash talk.
Mostly, NFL teams hate it. There’s a notion that some good-natured jawing will somehow get the greatest football players in the world motivated for a big game. No words that can be said should change who wins a game.
Then again, it might not be the best idea to get Tom Brady mad.
Chase Young saying “I want Tom!” after Washington clinched an NFC East championship shouldn’t be controversial, but in the super-serious paranoid NFL world it has been. Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face Young’s Washington Football Team in a wild-card game on Saturday night, a game that can be live-streamed on the Yahoo Sports app.
Young’s comments made that game more interesting. And he didn’t back down from them either.
Chase Young wants to play Tom Brady
Young answered to the fallout from his comments exactly how he should have.
"I'm excited for every game. Tom Brady? You think I won't be excited to play against the GOAT? You trippin’,” Young said, via John Keim of ESPN.com. “I'm not going to apologize for saying I want Tom."
Young was the second pick of the 2020 draft and had a great rookie season. His exuberance is what Washington needs, and the NFL needs a bit of it too. It’s an entertainment business, after all. And he was far from disrespectful to Brady, one of the most respected players in the league.
Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians shot back this week, saying “you better watch what you wish for.” Brady, who learned under Bill Belichick to never say anything controversial, kept it cool.
“You know, he’s obviously a great young player, so we got our hands full with that D-Line, one of the best D-Lines in the league," Brady said, via NBC Washington. "Chase is a great young player."
About the furthest Brady would go was to invoke a college rivalry.
"Went to Ohio State so naturally, I think the Ohio State-Michigan thing wears off on him a little bit," Brady said.
Washington looking for an upset
Like any playoff game, Washington-Tampa Bay has a few fun subplots.
Washington made the playoffs at 7-9, the third team with a losing record to make the NFL’s postseason. The other two teams won their first playoff game. Washington is waiting to see if quarterback Alex Smith will be healthy enough to play, or play the whole game, with a calf injury. No matter what it has been a surprisingly successful first season with WFT for Ron Rivera, who battled cancer through the season.
Tampa Bay is a fun story too. After dominating the AFC for so long, Brady will be in the NFC playoffs for the first time. Brady and the New England Patriots split up, and Brady threw 40 touchdowns for the Buccaneers. That’s amazing for a 43-year-old quarterback. He helped Tampa Bay to an 11-5 record.
There will be plenty of time spent on Brady and Young. It might be mentioned that Young was barely a year old when the Patriots drafted Brady. Young’s words will put a spotlight on the greatness of both players, at much different points in their careers.
Either way, Young’s trash talk added some juice to an entertaining prime-time playoff game.
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