On Monday the NFL decided to suspend Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee for the remainder of the season for his hit on Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
The move came after repeated offenses by Kazee, and will carry over into the postseason should the Steelers qualify. Kazee has been fined five times this season alone for such offenses.
Kazee Dirty Or Victim Of Impossible Rules ?
Kazee suspension also comes with no pay, meaning if the Steelers got hot and ran the table the hard-hitting enforcer could go as many as six or seven weeks without receiving a game check.
A letter to Kazee by the NFL VP of Football Operations Jon Runyan read:
“When players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, and particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player, it is appropriate to impose substantially greater penalties.”
Despite Runyan’s letter stating that repeated offenses played a role in the length of the suspension, future NFL Hall of Famer Tom Brady has a gripe with the QBs who put receivers in harm’s way with some of their throws.
Brady Has Animated Rant Aimed At QBs
The seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback has a bit of a different view on what took place Saturday and has been happening way too often around the league. Brady’s Instagram post has everything to do with signal-callers hanging receivers out to dry.
“Nobody likes seeing players being hurt. But hard hits happen. QBs should not be throwing the ball in areas where they are exposing their own teammates to these type of hits,” Brady said. “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 defensive player all the time is just flat wrong. Need better QB play!! It’s not OK QBs to get your WRs hit because of your bad decisions!”
Strong comments by Brady, who’s never been shy to express how he feels about the game or the rules of the game which he and many other QBs have benefited heavily from.
But in this instance Brady is correct, QBs need to be held accountable for making certain throws that are bound to get your receiver jacked up. In 2021, Brady, while leading the Buccaneers, he said that a quarterback’s job is to protect himself and his teammates. Brady also mentioned that the onus to protect yourself shouldn’t fall on the referees or the league’s front office.
Brady Talking The Talk Because He Can
Why can Brady speak in that manner?
Because he’s only the greatest signal-caller to ever play the game, and one thing he rarely did was set his guys up to take big hits. Brady was great at throwing to open guys and protecting them at the same time.
As far as QB play needing to be better, Brady is 100 percent correct, and especially in 2023 where the bar has been set extremely low.
