The NFL has implemented several rule changes in recent years in an attempt to protect players from serious injury, and Tom Brady has suggested another that he believes would help.
During a Tuesday appearance on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd,” Brady discussed the illegal hit in Week 13 that left Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence with a concussion. While most people have ripped Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for delivering a cheap shot as Lawrence went into a slide, Brady offered a slightly different viewpoint.
Brady told Cowherd that the NFL needs to find a way to hold quarterbacks and offensive players more accountable for protecting themselves. One way the league could do that, Brady feels, is by penalizing a quarterback who slides too late.
“Maybe they fine or penalize a quarterback for sliding late and 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 defense for every single play that happens when there’s a hit on a quarterback,” Brady said.
Brady’s point is that there are times when a defender has already begun making a tackle and the quarterback slides. Rex Ryan had a similar complaint this week and suggested quarterbacks should opt for a strategy other than sliding when they have a defender coming at them.
Whether a quarterback began a slide too late would be extremely difficult to officiate. However, we have seen recent rule changes like lowering the helmet and the hip-drop tackle that the NFL often reviews after the fact to determine if a fine is warranted. We doubt they will do that with quarterback slides, but there are few voices in the NFL community more influential than Brady’s.
