Coming into Super Bowl LIX, one of the bigger talking points around the big game was about the questionable officiating throughout the postseason. And it didn’t take long for the topic to resurface early on in Sunday’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs when Tom Brady took issue with a call in the first quarter.
Initially, it appeared as if the Chiefs’ defense was going to force a punt just as the Eagles had gotten on the border of field goal range.
However, Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie was called for an unnecessary roughness call on an incomplete pass from Jalen Hurts intended for Dallas Goedert. Right away, Brady voiced his disagreement with the penalty.
“Goedert was going up for it. Trent McDuffie was too. Looked somewhat incidental. Ah, not much there either. I don’t like that one either,” said Brady referencing another questionable call earlier in the quarter on the Eagles. I just think you throw the ball high in the defense and he barely gets hit in the face. I just feel like these big games always come down to one or two calls.
Brady also disagreed with this call against the Chiefs.
“I don’t like that one, either…Look, I was on the end of the Tuck Rule and I was glad Twitter wasn’t around then.”pic.twitter.com/sYunedbrZN
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 10, 2025
Brady then referenced a big game he was involved in that did indeed come down to one call, the infamous “Tuck Rule” game in 2002 against the then-Oakland Raiders in the AFC Divisional Round.
For those who may be unfamiliar, here is a video of the play where Brady of course appeared to fumble the ball only for the play to be ruled an incomplete pass.
“Look, I was on the end of the Tuck Rule and I was glad Twitter wasn’t around then,” joked Brady referencing the instance where he was on the right side of a controversial call.
As Brady referenced, if social media was indeed around during the Tuck Rule game, there would have likely been the same conspiracy theories that the games were fixed in the Patriots’ favor as we have seen in the lead-up to Super Bowl LIX.
Either way, this play won’t alleviate the spotlight on the officiating that has been constant throughout the postseason. Especially considering the Eagles would go on to score a touchdown on the drive, which almost certainly wouldn’t have been the case without the crucial penalty.
Jalen Hurts with the tush push/brotherly shove TD to get the Super Bowl LIX scoring started. #NFL pic.twitter.com/7QYTEivZ5w
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 10, 2025
