Barry Sanders pushes back at Tom Brady's assessment of the state of the NFL

BOSTON -- Last week, Tom Brady offered some of the most insightful and honest commentary he's ever stated when he said that there's a whole lot of mediocrity in the NFL.

Lions legend Barry Sanders doesn't agree.

Sanders was a guest on "RG3 and The Ones," and host Robert Griffin asked Sanders for his thoughts on Brady's assessment.

"Well, maybe he's talking about the teams that he played for," Sanders said before bursting into laughter with Griffin. "But the team that I played for? No, it's anything but mediocre. I thought I saw that comment somewhere and hey look, for us as Lions fans, maybe I just have blinders on because of how we're leading the division, how well we're playing. But I still see a great product. I still see great, great teams and a very popular game."

The popularity is certainly not in doubt, as the NFL continues to draw in record ratings, remaining among the most-watched television programs every year. Brady's commentary focused more on the degradation of quality of play, which Brady attributed to too many rule changes and a decrease in coaching quality.

Sanders, as stated, has been focused on the Lions, who -- prior to a flop at home on Thanksgiving against the Packers -- have had a lot to feel good about this season. While they only have one quality win (against the Chiefs in Week 1), the Lions are 8-3, in line to host a playoff game for the first time since the 55-year-old Sanders played in a loss to the Packers in the 19993 postseason. That's certainly better than Brady's Patriots (2-8) or Buccaneers (4-6).

Sanders did say he'd be interested to learn more about Brady's perspective, but he made it clear he sees nothing wrong with the product that he's watching on the field.

"I would listen to anything he has to say, and I'd have to get into more detail what he actually is referring to," Sanders said. "But hey look, I think this is like the greatest product, the greatest thing we've ever seen as Lions fans. So I'm gonna enjoy this for a while."