As a former quarterback, Tom Brady might be expected to side with his former profession in the aftermath of Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair’s devastating hit on Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence on Sunday.
But that’s not necessarily the case.
During Houston’s Week 14 defeat of Jacksonville, Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair decked Jags QB Trevor Lawrence as he attempted to slide.
Speaking with FS!’s Colin Cowherd on Tuesday, Brady admitted to having “mixed emotions” over the play and proposed a rule that may prevent such incidents by penalizing quarterbacks.
“I’ll start by saying there’s mixed emotions I have about it as well,” Brady said. “I remember in 2001, I think we played at Buffalo, and I slid late. Nate Clements was the corner for the Bills, and he came up out of the secondary and absolutely crushed me. My helmet went flying off. I got back and ran into the huddle, and I had a lot of teammates that came up to me the next day and said, ‘Dude, these guys are coming. You got to get rid of that football. And if you’re gonna slide, you better get down. These guys are coming to get you.’
“It was a great kind of learning experience for me because I realized, when I’m out of that pocket, things are moving a lot faster for me. The defense is trying to be aggressive, and over time, the NFL has obviously done a lot of things to protect players — players’ health and safety and on and on and on.”
Brady then addressed the league’s current unequal state of play, in which quarterbacks are more protected than ever but also run more than they have in the past.
“There’s an aspect for me that I think the quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves. I see Josh Allen run it a lot, I see Lamar Jackson run it a lot, and it’s a great skill set to have. A lot of times, I wish I had that skill set. When you run, you put yourself in a lot of danger. When you do that, I don’t think the onus of protecting an offensive quarterback who’s running should be on a defensive player. I don’t think that’s really fair to a defense.”
The Fox broadcaster and future Hall of Famer took particular exception to the character assassination of Al-Shaair that many fans, media, and even the league itself seemed to partake in. Moreover, he also suggested it may be time for the league to start penalizing QBs for sliding late and inviting such hits.
“I don’t like that one bit,” Brady said about the dirty player label. “Maybe they fine or penalize a quarterback for sliding late. They say, ‘Look, if we don’t want these hits to take place, we’ve gotta penalize the offense and the defense rather than just penalize the defensive player for every single play for a hit that happens on a quarterback.’”
Brady’s point has merit.
One could argue that the game moves too fast for quarterbacks to make that kind of decision under the threat of a penalty. However, it moves fast for the defenders, and if they can get penalized for their mistakes, why can’t quarterbacks?
The imbalance in the rule book is a real issue. Quarterbacks are running more than ever because they’re more athletic than ever. However, it’s also because the rule book favors them both in the pocket and outside.
Will the NFL act on Brady’s suggestion? Highly unlikely. But he’s got a point.
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