The NBA has been a players first league since the days of Michael Jordan. It changed the entire complexity of the game. The NFL has been much more recent that players are beginning to realize they have more power than the organization and the head coach.
Nobody in the NFL embodies that more than Tom Brady who is undoubtedly the face of the league given that he’s been to nine Super Bowls and won six in his career thus far.
And nowhere was that any clearer how powerful Tom Brady truly is than holding calls plummeting after the tweet he wrote last Thursday night.
The 2019 NFL regular season thus far has been the biggest snooze fest through Week Three and it seems like there are a dozen reasons why.
Injuries are a big reason why ratings and stadium attendance are sliding compared to last season. Ben Roethlisberger is out for the season. Drew Brees is out for the next five or so weeks. Cam Newton reinjured his foot. Nick Foles has a broken collarbone. Saquon Barkley is out for the foreseeable future due to a high ankle sprain.
Not only that but Andrew Luck suddenly retired before the season began and Eli Manning was benched in favor of Daniel Jones. There are literally only a few elite quarterbacks left right now.
Also, maybe the main reason why it’s yawn-inducing is because we pretty much already know who is going to win it all barring any sort of catastrophic injury to Tom Brady.
It’ll probably be the New England Patriots versus the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship, and Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship. It’s just a foregone conclusion.
Another reason why boredom sets in is because of obnoxious overzealous referees who throw a flag on every play.
On Thursday night during the Tennessee Titans-Jacksonville Jaguars game was the height of the annoyance.
According to ESPN, “Officials threw 41 flags for offensive holding in 14 games Sunday, an average of 2.9 per game, according to ESPN Stats & Information. In the first 33 games of the season, there were 188 such flags — a rate of 5.7 per game.”
During the game Brady tweeted, “Too many penalties. Just let us play!!!!”
Too many penalties. Just let us play!!!! #TENvsJAC
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) September 20, 2019
The six-time Super Bowl Champion followed it up with a demonstrative message to the league.
Brady wrote, “I’m turning off this game I can’t watch these ridiculous penalties anymore.”
I’m turning off this game I can’t watch these ridiculous penalties anymore #TENvsJAC
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) September 20, 2019
And it worked. The league actually listened to Brady and enforced some changes in time for Week Three (except for Thursday Night’s game).
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted:
Holding penalties plummeted Sunday after a conference call between VP of officiating Al Riveron and refs on Saturday, per @SeifertESPN. Officials threw 41 flags for offensive holding Sunday, an average of 2.9 per game. The first 33 games of the season averaged 5.7 per game.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2019
Nobody in the NFL has the kind of power that Tom Brady has and that includes his head coach Bill Belichick as well.