Something happened between Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu before halftime of Super Bowl LV. That something was captured by NFL Films microphones. That something won’t be revealed by NFL Films.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL’s in-house production company won’t be disclosing the content of the exchange between Brady and Mathieu. As the source explained it, NFL Films typically does not reveal the audio of such squabbles between players.
“He called me something I won’t repeat but yeah I’ll let all the media throw me under bus as if I did something or said something to him,” Mathieu said in a tweet that he posted but then deleted after the game. That prompted speculation from some that Brady used a slur or something else that crossed the line.
Michael Irvin, who apparently has heard the audio, said on Rich Eisen’s show that no slurs were used. As the source explained it to PFT, the Brady-Mathieu exchange included nothing stronger than the typical profanity heard throughout any NFL game.
It’s a shame that NFL Films won’t release audio that has independent news value, given that the interaction between Brady and Mathieu resulted in a flag being thrown against Mathieu. It’s also unfortunate that NFL Films doesn’t embrace audio of player squabbles.
Then again, given audio of NHL players that periodically comes to light, maybe it’s good that the NFL doesn’t.
