Tom Brady publicly voices disapproval with NFL after suspension decision
The NFL icon and seven-time Super Bowl winner has spoke out against the league after Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee has been suspended for the rest of the season
Tom Brady has sent a warning to NFL quarterbacks in response to seeing Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee suspended for the rest of the season for a tackle on Indianapolis Colts wide receiver, Michael Pittman.
The tackle came during the Colts’ 30-13 win over the Steelers at Lucas Oil Stadium. In the second quarter, with the Steelers up 13-7, Gardner Minshew threw to Pittman on the second and eight.
As Pittman leapt to catch the pass, Kazee threw himself into his path and the pair collided in the air. Pittman remained on the ground for minutes after the play and was later ruled out of the game with a concussion. The tackle saw Kazee ejected from the game for “unnecessary roughness.”
The NFL has since suspended Kazee without pay for the remainder of the regular season and any potential post-season games. The decision came following “repeated” violations of on-field health and safety rules that “carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player.”
Reacting to the news, NFL icon Tom Brady placed blame on Minshew for the incident, and claimed quarterbacks need to take more responsibility for not putting teammates into dangerous positions as he made it clear he disagrees with Kazee’s punishment.
“Nobody likes seeing players get hurt,” Brady wrote in a comment on social media. “But hard hits happen. QBs should not be throwing the ball in areas where they are exposing their own teammates to these types of hits.
“Coaches need to coach better, QBs needs to read coverages and throw the ball to the right places and defenders should aim for the right hitting areas. To put the blame on the [defensive] player all the time is just flat-out wrong. Need better QB play!! It’s not OK QBs to get your WRs hit because of your bad decisions!”
Brady’s comments come shortly after the former quarterback slammed another decision this season. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was controversially tackled by Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owen during the pair’s Week 13 clash.
Mahomes made a late attempt to make some yards and ran toward the sidelines during a 2nd and ten. However, while he was at the line he was tackled by Owens which resulted in a fifteen-yard penalty and a fresh set of downs.
Appearing on his Let’s Go! podcast, alongside Lawrence Taylor and Jim Gray, Brady revealed that he sided with Owens on the decision.
“I really don’t like the way that it’s [the game has] gone,” Brady chimed in. “Every time you would’ve hit the quarterback there would’ve been a flag. And the reality is, defenses should be aggressive.”
“There was a hit on Patrick Mahomes last night where he was running out of bounds where he wasn’t even out of bounds,” Brady added. “The quarterbacks need to learn how to throw the ball away. They need to learn how to read defenses so that they can get the ball out of their hands. I always felt that my best protection was getting rid of the ball.
“Even in my day, it would’ve been hard for you to sack me just because I knew how great you were and how fast I needed to throw the ball that day.”
