Amid the NFL “Roughing the Passer” controversy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady made an interesting comment to reporters on Thursday.
Brady has been widely mentioned during the roughing the passer controversy because of the penalty he drew in Sunday’s Week 4 home game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Grady Jarrett sacked Brady on a critical third down play to seemingly give Atlanta a chance to win (they scored 15 unanswered points to cut Tampa’s lead to 21-15). Jerome Boger’s officiating crew curiously penalized Jarrett for roughing the passer, and the Bucs were able to melt out the clock for a 21-15 victory.
While speaking to reporters on Thursday (via Chris Mason of MassLive.com), Brady sounded off on the difficulties of NFL officiating. He even made a bold claim by saying he’s “lost Super Bowls” over missed calls:
“There’s a lot of things I see that are probably pretty challenging to officiate, they’re probably challenging to play defense with. I don’t have all the answers to all those. I don’t think the referees are robots, I don’t think they’re trying to get it wrong, I don’t think they’re always going to get it right. I feel bad for a guy when they get called something that probably shouldn’t be that way. Sometimes you’ve just got to shake it off.
“I’ve lost Super Bowls because I thought they missed a call. You go, alright: You’re going to get some, you’re going to not get some. You hope they don’t come up but they come up. It’s sports.”
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Brady holds an impressive 7-3 record in Super Bowls, with his only three defeats coming against the New York Giants (Super Bowls 42 and 46) and the Philadelphia Eagles (Super Bowl 52).
Brady didn’t specify which Super Bowl games or plays, so it’s purely speculation as to what “missed” calls he’s referring to.
His comments are also noteworthy because Brady usually takes the high road when he’s questioned about controversial officiating calls, even if it goes against his team.
At any rate, all 32 teams are going to be on the right and wrong ends of questionable referee calls. That’s just how the game works. As Brady pointed out, teams must “shake it off” when a controversial call goes against them.
With the win over the Falcons, Tampa claimed sole possession of first place in the NFC South division. They’ll try to win their second in a row this Sunday when they visit one of Brady’s old rivals in the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
