It took less than four minutes for the NFL on Fox booth to disagree with an official’s call in Super Bowl LIX.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown appeared to make a great catch on a long sideline pass early in the first quarter. However, Brown got flagged for offensive pass interference for pushing off on Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie.
Fox color analyst Tom Brady could not hide his disappointment at the penalty after watching the replay.
“Just getting off the press on McDuffie — ahhh, don’t like that one bit,” Brady said as the replay showed Brown put a hand out to McDuffie. “This is too critical of a game, the hand-fighting is going on down on that field. What do you think, Mike?”
Rules analyst Mike Pereira quickly concurred with Brady.
“Certainly I agree, when you look there’s hand-fighting, a little bit of a shove at the end and a trip, I think it’s one that did not need to be called,” Pereira said.
“In these games, you let the players play,” Brady said. “It should be decided on the field. I don’t like that call to start the game.”
Didn’t take long to get an officiating controversy.
Both Tom Brady and Mike Pereira disagreed with this offensive pass interference call on the Eagles.pic.twitter.com/TVhZmQXDNI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 9, 2025
The Eagles punted, and after Fox returned from the commercial break, play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt mentioned Pereira had spoken with NFL officials in New York about the call.
“The thought process was there was a push-off to the head,” Pereira said. “Not your typical hand-fighting when it gets to the head. But to me, I still think it’s not enough to be a foul.”
More from Pereira:
“The thought process was there was a push-off to the head. Not your typical hand-fighting when it gets to the head. But to me, I still think it’s not enough to be a foul.”pic.twitter.com/QKjjfIWcos
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 9, 2025
Nice work on Pereira’s part, to quickly get a definitive answer. And good to see Brady be so assertive so early in his first trip to the Super Bowl as an announcer.
