Tom Brady is known for his ruthless work ethic — and he appears to think some of today’s NFL stars aren’t working hard enough.

As the 2026 preseason gets underway, the seven-time Super Bowl champion, 49, recently called out players who have chosen to sit out of exhibition games.

In a since-deleted Instagram Story, Brady reshared a clip of him throwing a touchdown pass to Randy Moss during a 2010 preseason game.

“Preseason… Regular season… I never wanted to be taken off the field. Practice makes perfect,” the retired quarterback wrote.

“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.”

Brady retired from the game for good in 2023 after a one-season comeback following his initial retirement in 2022.

He later purchased a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders in October 2024.

In March, the New England Patriots legend shut down another potential comeback, telling CNBC, “I actually have inquired, and they don’t like that idea very much. We explored a lot of different things, and I’m very happily retired. Let me just say that, too.”

NFL rules explicitly state that a player cannot simultaneously hold an ownership stake.

Brady played for the Patriots for the first 20 years of his career, going on to win six Super Bowl titles and three NFL MVP awards. In 2020, he signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he remained for the rest of his career. He helped lead the team to a Super Bowl victory in 2021.

Following his retirement, Brady has continued to build his post-NFL empire and is estimated to be worth half a billion dollars. Along with the Raiders, he became a minority owner of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces and of the English soccer team Birmingham City.

He also serves as the lead NFL analyst for Fox Sports, signing a record-breaking 10-year, $375 million deal with the network to commentate on games. He often calls games alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt.

Brady has additionally branched out into entertainment with the launch of his production company, 199 Productions, in 2020. The company develops documentaries, films, and TV shows with a focus on sports and entertainment.

So far, there has been the Brady-centric 80 for Brady sports comedy, starring Rita Moreno, Sally Field, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, and the series Man in the Arena: Tom Brady, which won a Sports Emmy in 2022 for Outstanding Documentary Series. 199 Productions also produced Netflix’s The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady, which received an Emmy nomination in 2024 for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).