A recent National Football League penalty call. Roughing the
Brady occurs when a defensive player makes a now illegal defensive play on league poster boy, New England Patriots quarterback Tom
Brady.
Roughing the
Brady entered the league rulebooks after the 2008 NFL season in which
Brady suffered a horrific knee injury against the Kansas City Chiefs. Subsequently,
Brady was placed on injured reserve and was out for the season.
Concluding the 2008 season, NFL executives strictly sought to prevent teams from making defensive plays exclusively against New England Patriots quarterback, Tom
Brady. In short, the proverbial yellow flag is thrown whenever Tom
Brady is under extreme duress and is tackled. Afterward, the previous play is stricken and the opposing team is penalized. The particular rationale of this new officiating policy is somewhat unclear... but it is assumed the Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick had a part in the creation of this new penalty call.
At the start of the 2009 NFL season, the league officiating crew put the "Roughing the
Brady" call to extensive use. Notably, Week
4 of the 2009 season, with the Baltimore Ravens at New England, the officiating crew stymied several defensive plays made by the archetypal Baltimore defense with the "Roughing the
Brady penalty.
Jeff the Titans Fan: What the heck! why is our safety Chris Hope getting fined $10,000.00 for a clean tackle against Tom
Brady?
Steve the Titans Fan: Man that game was straight up embarrassing. A complete whitewash! Hell, the refs were calling roughing the
Brady all day. Nowadays you ain't allowed to tackle, sack, or force a fumble on
Brady. And I thought only the Steelers bribed refs.
Jeff the Titans Fan: That's some bullspit!
