Former Lions’ practice squad standout slams Tom Brady’s very insulting take on practice squad players
Former Lions practice squad standout pushes back on Tom Brady’s “insulting” take about practice squad players after the Hall of Famer questioned their motivation and competitiveness, and his response highlights a very different reality.
The Detroit Lions have definitely been a team that relies heavily on its practice squad in the Dan Campbell era. They like to get some solid players there who can come up and help out whenever they need them, and they’re widely looked at as important parts of every franchise in the league.
Practice squad guys are looking for their shot. That is, unless you ask Tom Brady
The Super Bowl-winning quarterback was on the Champion Mindset podcast last week and had some pretty disparaging things to say about practice squad players as a whole.
“I learned this over a period of years, but there’s 53 guys on the active roster, and there’s now 15 (16) guys on the practice squad. So, there’s 68 (69) players, but those practice squad players are important, because if anybody on the active roster gets hurt, they can get elevated to the squad. Well, there was times where these 15 guys would do really well in practice, and they’d be practicing, and you’d see like a scout team receiver, and I saw this happen a lot. These scout team receivers would come in and practice with the scout team, and they do really well, and I’d be watching, I’m like, ‘man, we got to get that guy, like, let’s get him on up on offense, he’s making a lot of plays, that’s the Darrelle Revis, he’s getting open on/”
“Then all of a sudden we’re like, hey, man, you’re doing really well, you got to come over here and deal with the pressure of succeeding now that you have expectation, and these guys, they weren’t prepared for it, so whatever we saw in practice against where there was not a lot of pressure, now when they’re put in a situation where there’s an expectation for performance, they’ve never had to personally deal with that, and then they fail.
Brady went on to say that he felt a lot of practice-squad players didn’t want to be elevated, and they just wanted to stay on practice squads and collect their money and tell their family and friends that they play in the NFL.
Former Lions edge rusher Kerry Hyder responds to Brady’s comments
You might remember Hyder. He spent three seasons with the Lions and is a really good example of a player who fought to get off the practice squad to become a part of the 53-man roster and even a starter for some time.
“That’s just simply not true. Hyder said. “As a former practice squad player for my first two season[s]. It’s literally all you think about 24/7. How can I get on the roster[?] Then one mistake, once your roster could end your career. That’s pressure. How am I going to take [care of] my family[?] You could argue it’s the most pressure.”
I think Hyder makes a really good point here. You’re automatically expendable when you’re on the practice squad. You face the pressure of being cut any day now, and you face the pressure of being overlooked.
Brady mentioned the whole thing about guys not wanting to be elevated. Well, then what is the point of the teams having them? You don’t see a whole lot of players that just stick on practice squads for a long time without bringing something to the table. It just wouldn’t work.
As Hyder notes, you’re one mistake away from being let go, and it has to be twice as hard to find a new team than it is when you’re a 53-man roster guy who gets let go. A lot of the UFL is basically just guys who got cut from practice squads trying to get back to the NFL. Brady is wrong here.
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