Tom Brady appeared to violate his very unique NFL rules on Sunday when he criticized the officials during Sunday’s broadcast of the showdown between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, but it sounds like he will not be punished.
During the broadcast, Brady expressed his displeasure at the decision from the league to eject Lions defensive back Brian Branch for his hit to the head of Packers wide receiver Bo Melton.
“I don’t love that call at all,” Brady said during the broadcast. “Obviously it’s a penalty, but to me, there has to be serious intent in a game like this.”
This appeared to be problem, because due to his unique status as both a broadcaster with Fox and a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady is prohibited from criticizing officials on the air.
But despite the apparent violation of this rule, Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports reports that he will not be punished by the league
“Though the league has barred Brady from criticizing officials — and much more — on the air because of his stake in the Raiders, there appears to be some wiggle room,” Schiffer wrote for Front Office Sports on Monday.
“Brady won’t be punished for his comments during Sunday’s Packers-Lions game, a source familiar with the situation told Front Office Sports.”
Needless to say, this decision led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“The bigger issue here is having a broadcaster be an owner is a huge conflict that makes him unqualified for to be the former. Broadcasters should attend production meetings, should be able to critique calls, and should at least have the appearance of being unbiased,” one person wrote on X.
“I hope Brady just keeps pushing the line on what he can criticize because being a complaining hater is what he’s good at and he probably has enough sway for who he is to actually get away with much needed jabs,” someone else added.
“He can’t do his job if he can’t be critical of a controversial call,” another person added.
“Tom Brady is the actual commissioner of the NFL,” one person joked.
“If we have to deal with weekly reports of what is or is not permissible for TB’s commentary during his broadcasts…. God help us all,” another person added.
We’ll have to see whether or not Brady crossed the line at any point this season.
