{"id":736969,"date":"2026-02-08T01:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T01:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/736969\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T01:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T01:40:20","slug":"baker-mayfield-gets-real-on-replacing-tom-brady-after-bucs-qb-dealt-bad-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/736969\/","title":{"rendered":"Baker Mayfield Gets Real on Replacing Tom Brady After Bucs QB Dealt Bad News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baker Mayfield wants to make one thing clear: he is not, and never will be, Tom Brady<\/a>. Following the league\u2019s recent announcement regarding the 2025 Walter Payton Man of the Year honors, the Buccaneers signal-caller addressed the persistent shadow of his predecessor with newfound urgency. Mayfield ending up as one of the nominees reveals how a career milestone served as the definitive catalyst for his most unfiltered admission since arriving in Tampa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you step into a situation like that, when Tom [Brady] has just been there, obviously living legend, greatest quarterback that\u2019s ever played, you can\u2019t try and beat him,\u201d said Mayfield to The Associated Press<\/a>. \u201cNobody\u2019s ever going to be Tom Brady. There\u2019s not going to be a second one of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The star quarterback clarified that he didn\u2019t come to Tampa Bay to replace the legendary Brady. Certainly, he stepped into his shoes, but he has \u201cunapologetically\u201d remained true to himself. In his words, he keeps his emotions on his sleeve and owns his mistakes. That\u2019s precisely why he has been able to build a name for himself among Buccaholics.<\/p>\n

\"Sep<\/p>\n

Sep 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Fox NFL broadcaster and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady speaks to Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time these words have come out of the two-time Pro Bowler\u2019s mind. In his introductory press conference as the Buccaneers quarterback, he ascertained that he\u2019s \u201cnot going to be Tom Brady.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, \u201cI\u2019m going to be me. That\u2019s what\u2019s gotten me to this point. We\u2019re going to do it differently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, too, has iterated the fact many times that Mayfield and Brady cannot be put in the same jar. He served as an assistant when the legendary Brady led the team to a Super Bowl victory in 2020 and has since watched Mayfield\u2019s impressive growth over the past three seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the complete opposite of Tom, which is a good thing,\u201d Bowles explained in \u201824. \u201cBecause if you get somebody similar, they\u2019re going to be comparing him, and you\u2019re screwed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seven-time Super Bowl champion led through a \u201cmindset of a champion\u201d that some players found intense. Mayfield famously described the Brady era as a \u201chigh-strung environment\u201d where players were often stressed because the expectations were so through the roof. To which Brady\u2019s response was legendary<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t daycare. If I was going to have fun, I\u2019d go to Disneyland with my kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Whereas Mayfield focuses on \u201cbringing joy\u201d back to the game, believing in leading through camaraderie rather than pressure.<\/p>\n

As for their playing style, the former Patriots superstar was the ultimate pocket passer, often relying on elite pre-snap reads. He rarely scrambled, focusing on \u201ctaking what the defense gave him\u201d to move the chains systematically. Mayfield, as Bowless pointed out, is opposite.<\/p>\n

He is more \u201csneaky athletic\u201d and plays with a gunslinger mentality. In 2025, the FOX Sports analyst even praised a specific throw by Mayfield, noting that the Bucs signal-caller has \u201cexplosive power\u201d in his lower body that allows him to make off-platform throws Brady typically didn\u2019t attempt.<\/p>\n

Since the day he arrived in Tampa Bay, Mayfield knew he couldn\u2019t beat Brady\u2019s version of greatness, so he chose to build his own.<\/p>\n

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Baker Mayfield ended up as one of the nominees<\/p>\n

The former AP College Football Player of the Year gave a firm stance on Brady\u2019s comparison shortly after the winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award was announced. Mayfield was a finalist for the prestigious award, given as an honor to recognize a player\u2019s excellence in both football and community service.<\/p>\n

While being the Buccaneers\u2019 nominee was a career milestone for Baker, which he described as \u201chumbling,\u201d it was the Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner who took the award home. His work through the Phenia Mae Fund, which supports pediatric stroke programs and youth technology education, earned him the trophy.<\/p>\n

\"January<\/p>\n

January 3, 2026, Tampa, Florida, USA: Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield 6 carries the ball, while the Carolina Panthers play defense during the fourth quarter at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. Tampa USA \u2013 ZUMAs70_ 20260103_zan_s70_123 Copyright: xJeffereexWoox<\/p>\n

Mayfield earned the nomination for his commitment to the Tampa Bay community. If he had won, he stood a chance to join Derrick Brooks as the only other player in team history to win the award. Through his foundation\u2019s \u201cBe the Ball\u201d event, he has raised nearly $600,000 for youth services. And his personal generosity saved the Space Coast Vipers\u2019 season with a $17,900 donation for safety gear.<\/p>\n

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From providing $50,000 in hurricane relief to launching a scholarship for walk-on athletes, Mayfield has proven that, while his stats are impressive, his true legacy in Tampa is defined by being the heart of the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baker Mayfield wants to make one thing clear: he is not, and never will be, Tom Brady. Following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[1842,1740,211,53,260,380,7,6,109,5639,209,704,250,2597,2596,7763,1369,3081,111],"class_list":["post-736969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-baker-mayfield","tag-bobby-wagner","tag-buccaneers","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-florida","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-raymond-james-stadium","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tampabay","tag-tampabaybuccaneers","tag-todd-bowles","tag-tom-brady","tag-usa","tag-washington-commanders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116032466520817437","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}