Tom Brady is no stranger to fan criticism, but was his comment while ejecting a player actually against NFL restrictions?

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There’s probably little Tom Brady hasn’t heard in the world of fan criticism. Forget about the sharpest jokes with Tom Brady roasthe is widely considered the greatest quarterback of all time, causing fans of approximately 31 NFL teams to hate his courage. However, Brady has had his playing days in the past moved to the broadcast boothand although you’d expect he’d still have plenty of them opponents of his talent in his new role, his comment during one match could even be contrary to the league regulations.

On Sunday night, the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers played on Fox with Kevin Burkhardt and Conversation with Tom Brady. In the second quarter, referees at the NFL’s replay center in New York made the controversial decision to eject Lions safety Brian Branch for a helmet-to-helmet collision with Packers’ Bo Melton. You can see and hear the game Brady’s reaction to this below:

You could argue for days whether the New York front office made the right decision to eject – and believe me, they certainly will – but the issue at hand is specifically about Tom Brady. The retired QB recently became part owner with the Las Vegas Raiders and that’s why they exist rules that Brady must follow in his role as a broadcaster. One of these rules states that he is not allowed to publicly criticize referees or other clubs. Many fans thought he did just that in his commentary for the Lions-Packers game, as they wrote on X (Twitter):

• Whether it’s the right call or not, it’s definitely worth hearing Brady criticize the referee’s decision, something he’s technically prohibited from doing as partial owner of the Raiders – njh287

• Tom Brady was not allowed to criticize officials, which I believed was part of his ownership agreement. That certainly sounded like criticism after being fired. – houseofburgh412

• I thought Tom Brady wasn’t allowed to criticize referees under the terms of his minority ownership. I also heard him speak positively about the Raiders when talking about Jacobs. Hmm – buttnerme

• So much for Tom Brady being banned from criticizing NFL referees….I clearly disagreed with this ejection. – PatsBuzz

Will Tom Brady face consequences for his comments? I think it will come down to the official language of the rule because, as the recent tweet unwittingly pointed out, there is a difference between Brady disagreeing with the officials and criticizing them. This was the exact quote from Fox:

According to ESPN, the rule states that Tom Brady could theoretically disagree with an on-air call, but if he went too far, he could face a fine or suspension. This is quite vague language, because who can say how far is too far?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, because if nothing else, this could serve as a shot across the bow for exorbitantly paid broadcaster regarding his reaction to future rulings with which he disagrees.