The NFL has changed a lot when it comes to managing players, especially when the games don’t count in the standings. Teams are more careful with their stars, but some former players still believe players should be ready to play when the football season arrives.
Tom Brady recently called out that mindset, and Shannon Sharpe clearly agrees with him.
Shannon Sharpe Backs Tom Brady’s Old-School View of NFL Players
Sharpe agreed with Brady’s criticism of modern NFL players, arguing that football remains a dangerous sport regardless of how much the league improves player safety.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end made his point on “Nightcap,” using hunting seasons to explain why he believes players should embrace their responsibility once football season arrives.
“Some of these guys, some of these teams, allowing their — I should, I mean, think about what I just said. They’re allowing their players to play,” Sharpe said. “Like Tom said, you’re a football player, it’s football season.”
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Sharpe then expanded on his hunting comparison, pointing to different seasons for different animals. “If you go hunting, there’s a season, there’s a turkey season, there’s a pheasant season, there’s a duck season, there’s a whitetail season. Okay. You hunt what’s in season. That’s what you hunt,” he added. “It’s football season, you’re a football player, and you don’t want to play football?”
His argument centers on risk rather than toughness alone. Sharpe acknowledged that injuries can happen during almost any football action, from catching a pass to making a tackle.
“I ain’t talking about just stepping on the field because you can step on the field and go do the coin toss and nothing’s gonna happen,” Sharpe said. “But if you go out there and you go to catch a pass, you go to throw, you go to block, you go to run, you go to make a tackle, something bad could happen.”
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Brady generated the discussion after reacting to a video of himself playing during the preseason. The former quarterback wrote on Instagram Stories, “Preseason… Regular season… I never wanted to be taken off the field. Practice makes perfect… Too many people looking for easy ways out these days. When you’re a football player, and it’s football season, your job is to play football.”
Sharpe’s comments closely matched Brady’s view while adding a point that football’s physical risks have never disappeared. “It is an inherently dangerous game. And I don’t care how safe they make it, it’s still dangerous,” he said.
The discussion also highlights how much the NFL’s approach has changed over the years. Sharpe played 14 NFL seasons and won three Super Bowls, while Brady built his career across an even longer period, winning seven Super Bowls.
Modern teams, however, place greater emphasis on injury prevention and managing player workloads.
