Tom Brady Comments About Physical Football Have Some Fans Crying Hypocrisy

During his time on the NFL gridiron, Tom Brady wasn't the most popular man around. Those who loved the New England Patriots (and later the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) had an obvious affinity for the quarterback, but that sentiment wasn't universal. And the feeling hasn't completely vanished, even though TB12 has retired.

Take, for example, Brady's latest comment about how modern football is filled with excessive penalty flags and is losing its physical edge. You'd think that fans would be happy to hear one of the NFL's biggest names sharing the sentiment, right?

Well, that wasn't universally true. While some fans did appreciate the quarterback speaking up, others couldn't help comparing his comments to his time on the playing field. And, in that case, things appear to be a bit dissonant.

Let's check it out.

Some Took Issue With Brady's Penalty Comments

At the tail end of Sunday night's Giants-Bills game, the referees stepped into the spotlight. While a pass interference call gave the G-Men one final chance to win the game from the 1-yard line, many felt another flag should have been thrown on what proved to be the final play.

Brady, who's now a civilian rather than someone the NFL can fine for speaking out, thought the officials swallowed the whistle.

"It's definitely a penalty," Brady said on the Let's Go podcast. "There was obviously a holding, they just didn't call it."

But that wasn't the end of the penalty-related discussion. Brady, on the whole, thinks that referees get a bit aggressive when it comes to enforcing the rules.

"Football is a physical sport, there's a physical element to all of this," he added. "You throw a 15-yard flag for something that, you know, 20 years ago maybe wouldn't have had a flag. That affects the game in a big way."

The former Patriots even brought out one of the classic cliches when it comes to declining physicality: Flag football.

"There's so many people that want it less and less physical, it's more like flag football, which is going to be in the Olympics in 2028," Brady said. "Maybe football goes to flag football over a period of time."

Again, you'd think that fans would support the living legend speaking up. Excessive flags and declining physicality are pretty standard talking points in sports bars and the cheap seats. When Brady's comments were shared on the Kansas City Chiefs subreddit, though, the reception was a bit mixed.

Some fans saw Brady's point—user suchfresht simply said, "He's right," with hurrdurraj65 replying, "Just the wrong person to say it lol" and notagrue explained how the NFL has to walk a fine line to protect players—many comments focused on perceived hypocrisy.

User SassyLassie496 wrote: "If it wasn't for the league treating Brady like a Faberge egg, he would never have beaten [Joe] Montana's records."

PhillipJ3ffries was a bit more direct, writing: "Nobody wants to [expletive] hear this from Tom, I'm sorry. Dude had the refs in his pocket for the last 15+ years of his career. Roughing the passer for breathing on the GOAT."

User Reeb99 shared a similar sentiment: "Ah yes, Mr Gets a Free 15 Yards from somebody waving a hand in front of his face. The guy that was on a team who's WRs were notorious for their soccer flops."

And, toward the bottom of the thread, Easy_Quote_9934 simply added, "The league turning into flag football is the whole reason he lasted 20 years."

Brady's Perception Doesn't Match Up With Reality

While it's understandable that the Chiefs subreddit would be a bit biased against Brady, the sentiments expressed there aren't unique. If you weren't cheering for his team, his combination of success and star status probably rubbed plenty of fans the wrong way.

When it comes to penalties, though, perception doesn't tell the whole story.

In January 2022, Brady spoke about that sentiment after he was the beneficiary of a soft roughing the passer call.

"Yeah, I always hear that—to different degrees—about getting penalties and so forth and roughing the passers," he said, according to a CBS story. "They say that, and I'm always in my mind going, 'I don't remember the last time I got a roughing the passer.' I think we should look that up, over the last, whatever, 10 years, who's got the most roughing the passer penalties."

And people did just that. The numbers, it turned out, backed up Brady. In reality, he received flags at one of the lowest rates in the league. And while the tweet citing that specific figure—he was on the receiving end of hits that were ruled roughing the passer on 3.94 percent of his drop-backs within the sample size—has been lost to time, other posts remain.

In an ironic twist, Brady's perception is similar to something Chiefs fans are currently experiencing, as many other fanbases are accusing the Super Bowl champs of getting all the calls. Good players (or teams) tend to play close games on national television. If a flag is thrown at the crucial moment on a Monday Night Football game, it's going to be front-page news. If there's a roughing the passer penalty in the dying minutes of a small-market blowout, no one will really care.

For better or worse, though, nuance can get lost once fandom enters the fray. Brady probably understands that well.