Just a few months ago, Tom Brady officially announced his retirement from the NFL and he is not happy with the current situation for players. In fact, the legend believes it’s a new version of flag football.
Brady made very strong comments about the way referees are officiating during an intervention in his podcast Let’s Go! “There’s so many people that want it less and less physical. It’s more like flag football, which is going to be in the Olympics in 2028.”
Though Tom Brady won’t return to play football, the former quarterback of the New England Patriots was really concerned about the future of the sport. “This is football. The physicality which people really enjoy, I certainly enjoy, I don’t think we should ever lose that.”
Tom Brady takes a big shot at the NFL
Following his college career at Michigan, Tom Brady was selected by the Patriots with the famous 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. After Drew Bledsoe got injured, Brady received the opportunity by head coach Bill Belichick and the rest is history.
So, thanks to Six Super Bowls won with New England and one more with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady is an authorized voice in football. That’s why, he explained his concerns after DK Metcalf got a flag for unnecessary roughness after the wide receiver shoved Cam Taylor-Britt, defensive back of the Bengals.
“I don’t know there’s unnecessary or not. All I know is the defender has got every right to push back on DK, but he doesn’t do it. So DK throws him on the ground. They throw a flag. I don’t understand what the flag is. This is football. This isn’t touch football. This is real football. Maybe football goes to flag football over a period of time. I don’t think fans would like that.”
DK Metcalf also had an answer for the NFL
After all the controversy surrounding the big amount of penalties for DK Metcalf, head coach Pete Carroll admitted it is a subject which has to be fixed in the future for the Seattle Seahawks.
“He’s got to clean it up. He knows. We have to make sure we are aware of how they are calling stuff. He is a very aggressive player, very physical and it stands out. He draws attention because of that. So, we’ve got to be cleaner. He knows it and he’s got to get it done.”
However, Metcalf doesn’t think the same. “I’m not going to change the way I play. If you look at the penalties, it was a taunting, unnecessary roughness, face mask, holding and I think it was one more in there. So, I’m doing pretty good if I look at it and judge myself.”
Tom Brady is right: Flag football will be at the Olympics
Flag football will appear for the first time ever in the 2028 Olympics at Los Angeles. That’s why many NFL stars such as Tyreek Hill and Micah Parsons have publicly admitted they want to play for a gold medal.
The rules of flag football are pretty similar to the ones of traditional football. Teams typically consist of six to eight players on each side, and the primary objective is to move the football down the field and score points by crossing the opponent’s goal line.
However, instead of tackling opponents to the ground, players aim to remove the flag attached to the ball carrier’s waist making a “tackle.” In that moment, the play is stopped by the referees.
