Tom Brady gets punished for his role in weak roughing the passer call

Tom Brady is getting a fine for what he did after he was tackled by Grady Jarrett in Week 5. 

In Week 5, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was tackled in what appeared to be a routine sack from Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. After some discussion among referees, it was flagged as roughing the passer.

Almost unanimously, NFL Twitter deemed it to be an extremely soft call with the “zebras” protecting the NFL’s crown jewel.

You make the call:

Regardless, after much was made of the penalty, there’s more to the story.

Tom Brady is getting punished as well. On Friday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the NFL informed Brady he is being fined for kicking Garrett on the play. It’s somewhat subtle, but if you watch the clip you can see Brady stick his leg and foot up in frustration over the tackle.

Tom Brady doesn’t walk away from soft roughing the passer call financially unscathed

$11,000 ain’t much for Brady. He’s earning over $1 million in salary this year and got a $10 million signing bonus for his current contract. ESPN reported earlier this week that fines for kicking are typically $10,500 for a first offense. Wonder what the extra $639 is for?

The ironic part in all of this is that the roughing the passer penalty — which, let’s be honest, that was a soft call — carries a fine of $15,000.

Here’s what Jarrett himself had to say about all of this.

Roughing the passer was in full view in Week 5 with multiple penalties of the variety that appeared to be a little bit soft. We’ll see if that aggressive rulebook protection of the quarterback continues.