New England Patriots Legend Tom Brady Rips NFL Suspension
If Damontae Kazee needs a reference for his potential appeal against a season-ending suspension, former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be in his corner.
Brady is among the many critics who have ripped the NFL's decision to shut down Kazee for the year. The Pittsburgh Steelers' secondary defender is under fire for a big hit laid on Indianapolis Colts receiver Michael Pittman on an incompletion during the teams' Saturday showdown, one that yielded a 15-yard penalty and an ejection.
But Brady feels that it takes a team effort to avoid big hits, expressing his thoughts in a comments section monologue under a SportsCenter post confirming Kazee's suspension.
"Nobody likes seeing players get hurt. But hard hits happen," Brady wrote. "QBs should not be throwing the ball in areas where they are exposing their own teammates to these types of hits. Coaches need to coach better, QBs (need) to read coverages and throw the ball to the right places and defenders should aim for the right hitting areas.
"To put the blame on the defense player all the time is just flat out wrong. Need better QB play!! It’s not OK QBs to get your WRs hit because of your bad decisions!"
USA TODAY SPORTS
Pittman dove to catch a pass from quarterback Gardner Minshew, leading to head-to-head contract with Kazee, who had come to make a play on the ball. The Indianapolis star was forced to leave the game with a concussion though the Colts prevailed, 30-13.
This is far from the first time that Brady has spoken out in the defense of defenders: in November, Brady spoke out against the "mediocrity" that had infiltrated the NFL game thanks in part to numerous safety rules that appear to favor offensive representatives.
"Offensive players need to protect themselves. It's not up to a defensive player to protect an offensive player. A defensive player needs to protect himself," Brady said during a November appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show. "I think a lot of the way that the rules have come into play have allowed this: you can essentially play carefree and then if anyone hits you hard, there's a penalty."
Alas for Kazee, a letter of recommendation for Brady might night be able to get him out of trouble: the seventh-year safety has already been fined four times for what the league has described as ""impermissible use of the helmet" or a "hit to a defenseless receiver."
Kazee will thus miss what's left Steelers' steadily fading playoff push, which continues on Saturday afternoon against Cincinnati (4:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
