Baltimore Ravens saftey Ed Reed said that Tom Brady apologized for his high, foot first slide at the end of the first half in Sunday’s AFC game. The NFL is reviewing the play to see if Brady was intentionally trying to cause harm for having his foot high in the air when he slid to avoid getting hit himself.
Brady’s foot collided into Reed’s upper leg and Reed was not hurt on the play. Reed didn’t have an issue with the slide, but one of Reed’s teammates was very vocal against Brady. Ravens safety Bernard Pollard has publicly complained that quarterbacks deserve to be fined by the NFL, which levies fines on defensive players for helmet-to-helmet hits.
Pollard said Monday, “If you want to keep this going in the right direction, everyone should be penalized for their actions.”
He added that Brady “knew what he was doing. It has to go both ways. Hopefully the NFL will do something about it. If they don’t, that’s fine. If they do, then that’s fine.”
Ironically, Pollard (then a member with the Chiefs) was the player who hit Brady on his knee in the first game of the 2008 season and knocked him out for the year.