Super Bowl LVII came and went with the Kansas City Chiefs winning it all by a margin of just three points over the Philadelphia Eagles, but the controversial way in how they took home the Lombardi Trophy has had the NFL landscape talking about it.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady had a couple of thoughts on the matter which he elaborated on the "Let's Go" podcast with NFL legend Larry Fitzgerald and sportscaster Jim Gray.
"Well, it's always, I think, easier not to call it. The hard one is when you do call it because there's a lot of scrutiny with that call. I think the point is, at least from a receiver/(defensive back) standpoint, if you're not gonna cover him... within the letter of the law... you can impede the receiver from where he wants to go and create an almost impossible throw-and-catch by the quarterback," the new Fox Sports commentator stated.
"At the same time on the other side of the ball, if the receiver pushes off, there's really nothing the [defensive back] can do in order to make the play. So it's such a hard situation 'cause you don't know how the game's being called all day long."
The door was wide open for the Chiefs to take home the win after Eagles cornerback James Bradberry IV was flagged for holding on to Chiefs receiver Juju Smith-Schuster's jersey–something that he admitted to doing after the game but hoped referees would let them play it out.
Kansas City then ran down the clock before making their field goal attempt, leaving the Eagles with only eight seconds to attempt something, which they failed to convert.
Many felt iffy with the flag being called at such a crucial point in the game and sports personalities like Richard Sherman, Julian Edelman and LeBron James were outraged by it happening.
Outside of them, anonymous NFL coaches and personnel have also chimed in on the matter, with them disagreeing as well.
Brady has spent half of his life on the football field and for him to comment that involves perspective from both the offensive and defensive sides of the field is an interesting thought from him.
He did not stop there though, as he also provided a more sobering take on the matter that includes how the referees might also be seeing the game.
"Those plays come up all the time. In every part of the game, they could be called. The fact that it just comes down to that one moment, I'm sure there were lots of other holds that were let go. There were probably a few that they called and in the end... the ref is trying to do the best that he could do," Brady stated.
Despite the negative reception of how the game ended, the Chiefs remain kings of the NFL world and are set to hold their championship parade on Wednesday, February 15.
