Tom Brady is taking aim at NFL coaches once again, this time by standing up for Houston Texans captain Azeez Al-Shaair after he was suspended for a late hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in Week 13.
In an appearance on The Herd recapping the week of NFL action, Brady took Al-Shaair’s side in the incident. The seven-time Super Bowl champion and new Fox game analyst argues that such hits are “the reality of a very physical sport” and that QBs (and their play-callers) should “take better care of themselves.”
“The quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves,” Brady said. “When you run, you put yourself in a lot of danger. And when you do that, I don’t think the onus of protecting an offensive quarterback who’s running should be on an offensive player. I don’t think that’s really fair to the defense.”
Tom Brady discussing the Azeez hit on Trevor Lawrence on the Collin Cowherd Show:
“There’s an aspect to me that the Quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves”
He even talks about how he slid too late early in his career & had to learn from that to keep himself safe. pic.twitter.com/DQ8YuCtP82
— Jacob (@Stroud4MVP) December 3, 2024
Brady shared a story from early in his career when he took a brutal hit from Buffalo Bills defensive back Nate Clements that became a “great learning experience” for him. After the game, Brady’s defensive teammates emphasized how important it was to slide early and avoid contact.
From that point on, Brady shifted the way he saw defensive players: They are playing just as all-out as he is.
“Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt, but it is also the reality of a very physical sport that we play,” Brady said. “Defensive players have to be aggressive, that’s their nature.”
Brady also turned his criticism toward his favorite target since joining the media: Coaches. Throughout the season, Brady has called out coaches for stalling the development of young quarterbacks and for trying to steal the shine by micromanaging the offense.
In this case, Brady also blamed play-callers for putting their stars in harm’s way by calling designed runs and scripted scrambles.
“There’s more designed runs now than in the history of the NFL,” Brady said. “So are we really trying to protect quarterbacks? Because if you are trying to do it through the rules, then why are the offensive coordinators not protecting their quarterbacks?”
The vast majority of former NFL players have come to Al-Shaair’s defense this week. Unlike past incidents with Vontaze Burfict, Brandon Merriweather, or Thomas Davis, the player support for Al-Shaair was near-universal, unlike media reactions.
That is seemingly because viewers in media and at home appeared to see for themselves that the violence of the hit from Al-Shaair was incidental, and perhaps that part of the blame fell on Lawrence. At least, that’s what analysts like Brady are arguing.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.