Former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning had a hilarious answer when asked which quarterback would get the favorable calls from officials.
During the last decade or so of his football career, former New England Patriots’ and Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback Tom Brady had a reputation for getting favorable calls from officials on “roughing the passer” penalties.
Of course, it wasn’t just Brady who benefited from the NFL’s commitment to protecting signal-callers. Quarterbacks draw plenty of questionable and tacky “roughing the passer” calls every year, and that’s not going to change any time soon.
OutKick attended Friday’s Manning Passing Academy session at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. There, Manning was asked which quarterback will get the help from refs with Brady now retired.
Understandably, The Sheriff opted to give a humorous answer instead of an actual prediction:
“Ha, ha, that’s a tough question. As far as who’s getting calls, probably depends on who’s nice to the refs in pre-game, right? Who’s talking to them? Who’s having a conversation? You’ve got to know the first name (of the refs). ‘Hey, Carl, how you doing? How’s your back feeling?’ You’ve got to do your homework.”
There was one notable instance of Brady being involved in a controversial “roughing the passer” call in his final NFL season. Late in the fourth quarter of a Week 5 home game against the Atlanta Falcons, Brady drew a roughing the passer call after taking what appeared to be a clean and routine sack from Grady Jarrett:
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But again, quarterbacks in general will always be the beneficiary of questionable roughing the passer penalties. That is how the NFL works now. They simply don’t want the game’s premier players getting injured.
