Getty Image / Michael Reaves
- Tom Brady has long been accused of getting favorable treatment from NFL officials
- One stat shows that this might not actually be true
- Read more BroBible articles here
There are very few things in this world that you could get a large group of people to unanimously agree on. One of those few things is how Tom Brady is treated by NFL refs.
If you gathered up all football fans outside of New England and Tampa Bay and asked them if they thought the refs help Tom Brady and his team, you’d get a nearly unanimous yes.
We hear about it all the time. There was the “Tuck Rule Game”. The NFL changed their rules after Brady’s knee injury. This penalty. That penalty. How many times have you heard the phrase “if that was Brady that would have been a penalty?” Fans always seem to find some kind of favoritism when it comes to Tom Brady.
He’s not sure why. Today, he appeared on “Let’s Go” and took issue with the idea that he is constantly benefitting from roughing the passer calls.
.@PFF can you pull this stat? Unless it doesn’t favor me in which case forget this ever happened…
“Let’s Go!” is out now: https://t.co/yiKIK5ImOP @JimGrayOfficial @SIRIUSXM pic.twitter.com/pa41UVCUGe
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 19, 2022
It might shock people to know, but Tom Brady is actually right about this one. According to nflpenalties.com, the only quarterback who started multiple games this season and received less roughing calls than Brady was Cam Newton.
More surprisingly, since 2009 (which is as far back as the numbers go), Brady has had the least regular season roughing calls per 100 pass attempts out of any quarterback who is currently active in the league. Only 11 out of the 61 quarterbacks listed have averaged less in that time.
It makes a compelling case that maybe Tom Brady doesn’t get as much help from NFL refs as fans think. We’ll likely never hear the end of this complaint about Brady, but maybe this will help some just enjoy the greatness unfolding in front of them.