Yes, Tom Brady understands the irony behind his disagreements with the roughing-the-passer penalties called in Sunday’s Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions game. That won’t stop him from advocating for defensive players to get some more leeway when it comes to hitting quarterbacks, though.
In the most recent edition of #AskTom, Brady said that quarterbacks should take some more accountability on certain hits, adding that it comes with the territory of playing the position.
“On the field, I just think there’s a level of aggressiveness that the defenders need to play with in order to do their job well — whether that’s rushing the passer or closing on a receiver to knock the ball off them. I just think sometimes we’re calling it a little too close,” Brady said. “The quarterbacks, they have every right to get rid of the ball whenever they want. The faster they get that ball out of their hands, the less likely they are to get hit.
“But if they want to hold the ball, part of the understanding is that you’re gonna get hit.”
There were a handful of penalties that Brady expressed his displeasure with when he was on the call for the Packers-Lions game on FOX. When Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes hit Packers running back Marshawn Lloyd on a pass thrown his way and was called for unnecessary roughness, Brady blurted, “Oh, come on, man.”
“That’s allowed 99 out of 100 … it’s a bang-bang play,” Brady added of the penalty called on Barnes at the time.
The one that seemed to irk Brady the most, though, was the roughing the passer that was called on Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks for his hit on Jared Goff during the Lions’ final drive. It appeared that Brooks hit Goff in a split second after he threw it.
“No, my goodness, what is that? There’s no way,” Brady said of the penalty on Sunday’s broadcast. “Brooks on the tackle kind of makes a great play. It’s a bang-bang play. He rolls off his body; it’s a great throw by Goff, that’s definitely not roughing the passer.
“You’re just ripping through the line of scrimmage to try to get the quarterback on the ground,” Brady continued. “Look, I love Goff standing there in the pocket, but you just can’t tack it on 15 yards.”
FOX Sports NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino agreed with Brady’s assessment of the penalty, saying that Brooks’ hit “wasn’t late.”
That penalty helped Detroit get deep into Green Bay territory, allowing it to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired, which led Brady to call the penalty “a little bit controversial” on #AskTom. And as Brady criticized the officiating for calling roughing the passer penalties he thought were weak, he admitted that it’s easier for him to feel that way now that he’s retired.
“Look, I understand. I’m self-aware,” Brady said as some on social media thought he was a bit hypocritical for him to call out the officiating. “I’m sitting up in that booth. It’s much easier for me to say it now that I’m sitting up in the booth, but that’s what my job is. I’m a broadcaster now, right? I have these types of opinions.”
Brady’s thoughts on some controversial penalty calls weren’t the only thing that went viral from his call during Sunday’s Packers-Lions game. When it appeared the Lions were going to pass the ball on one of the final plays from scrimmage, Brady blurted, “Don’t tell me they’re going to throw this? Oh my God, they’re going to throw this.”
The Lions ended up running the ball on the ensuing play, which allowed them to bleed some more clock before kicking the game-winning field goal. But when Brady was asked about that call and the Lions’ unsuccessful fourth-down attempt from deep in their own territory on #AskTom, he still shared some anxiety he had in those moments.
“At that part, I did,” Brady said when asked if he ever forgets that he’s on a broadcast seen by millions of people. “After a while, you start thinking, ‘Am I the one that is seeing this the wrong way? Did they just go for it in a tie game on their own 20-yard line? Is that what happened with the line? And they didn’t get it? Oh my God.’
“When you’re not in on every thought or conversation going on those coaching headsets, a lot of these times, I’m just trying to speak out loud what exactly I’m seeing.”
And Brady thinks that the Lions might have gotten a bit lucky in their win over the Packers.
“Look, I know they’re an aggressive fourth-down team, but maybe the football Gods were looking after them a little bit this last Sunday, let’s be honest,” Brady said.