The Eagles were flagged for a highly questionable roughing the passer call against Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady on Sunday, but Brady wants to make clear that the referees don’t go out of their way to protect them.
Brady said in his weekly interview with Jim Gray that the officials actually don’t protect him from getting hit any more than any other quarterback, noting that he only got one roughing the passer penalty during the regular season.
“I always hear that to different degrees about getting penalties, and so forth, roughing the passers,” Brady said. “I don’t remember the last time I got a roughing the passer. . . . I don’t feel like I get them as much as people might think that I get them.”
As noted by Cris Collinsworth, Brady actually has the fourth-lowest rate of roughing the passer calls among all qualifying quarterbacks since 2015. So whatever the reasons for Brady’s success, the officials excessively flagging defenders who hit him is not one of them.
