Tom Brady will not be punished by the NFL after criticizing officials on Sunday during Fox’s broadcast of a game between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.
Brady, a Fox Sports analyst, made the controversial comments when Detroit safety Brian Branch was ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Green Bay wide receiver Bo Melton in the second quarter.
“I don’t love that (ejection) call at all,” Brady said. “Obviously it’s a penalty, but to me, there has to be serious intent in a game like this.”
Brady, as part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, is not allowed to make certain comments during broadcasts, with criticism of officials being among the things that he can’t dive into.
However, the NFL announced Monday that there would be no consequences for Brady due to the tame nature of his critiques.
“The concern would be if Tom was egregiously critical of officiating or called into question the integrity of an official or the crew,” NFL chief spokesman Brian McCarthy told Sports Business Journal. “That did not occur in this instance.”
Brady purchased 5 percent of the Raiders in October, but some owners had been concerned that his analyst gig would lead to conflicts of interest. Because of that, the NFL deemed in August that the legendary quarterback was not allowed to criticize officials or other teams across the league.