Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady called out the NFLPA after he was fined $16,444 for an illegal slide tackle on Dallas Cowboys safety Malik Hooker.
Brady’s slide tackle took place during the third quarter of the Bucs’ Wild Card Round playoff loss to the Cowboys. Hooker scooped up a football on a play that was initially ruled a fumble (later ruled an incomplete pass), and that’s when Brady attempted the dangerous looking slide.
Brady addressed the fine on the latest episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast (h/t BroBible). Let’s just say the seven-time Super Bowl champion isn’t exactly thrilled with the fine nor the NFLPA:
“I’m a little disappointed, though, because I tried to tackle [Hooker] with my right shoulder and missed him…And I wasn’t going to try to stick my arm out, so I was trying to get him on the ground. I missed him completely. I didn’t even hit him. I tried to trip him but I didn’t. So, I don’t know how you can get fined for something that didn’t even happen. Are they fining an intention? It’s like targeting and you miss the person you hit, and they still call it targeting. So, I got to figure out and understand why this is the case. This is why I wish our NFLPA was stronger.”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
This isn’t the first time where the NFL fined Brady for a controversial on-field play. In the 2012 AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, Brady kicked at safety Ed Reed during a sliding play. The league fined Brady $10,000.
Brady’s contract with the Buccaneers officially expires after the 2022 season. He’s free to join a new team in free agency after this year, but the 45-year-old has yet to announce if he’ll come back for a 24th NFL season.
In 2022, Brady completed 66.8 percent of his pass attempts for 4,694 yards and 25 touchdowns against nine interceptions.
