The controversy surrounding a pair of NFL referees getting suspended due to their conduct toward players this past week led Tom Brady to take a bad trip down memory lane, but not in the way you might think.
In the most recent edition of #AskTom, Brady was asked what the worst thing he ever heard a ref say during his playing days. His answer wasn’t a message that a referee personally gave him. Rather, it was a call that led to arguably the worst loss of Brady’s career.Â
“This ones a little easier than I thought: The catch on the field has been confirmed on the David Tyree catch,” Brady said, referring to Tyree’s remarkable reception in the New York Giants’ upset win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. “That was the worst thing I couldve ever imagined.”
The Tyree catch is arguably the greatest catch in NFL history. With the Giants trailing 14-10 in the final minutes, Eli Manning somehow ran his way out of a sack before completing a 32-yard pass to Tyree, who pinned the ball to his helmet to complete the catch. Four plays later, the Giants scored the game-winning touchdown, ruining the Patriots’ chances to become the first team to go 19-0 in NFL history.Â
Nearly 20 years later, Brady remained upset over the play.
“We had one of the greatest defenders in Patriots history, Rodney Harrison, covering him,” Brady said. “I thought, Theres no way the balls getting caught. And if it was deflected, there were probably three or four Patriots that were there to catch the ball.Â
“Instead, he pins it against his helmet. And, as hes falling to the ground, it never comes loose and it ends up being one of the saddest moments in my career.”
And the catch wasn’t the only thing Brady was upset about from that play, either.Â
“Richard Seymour got held; I dont want to bring that up right now,” Brady said, believing that the Giants got away with a holding penalty at the line of scrimmage.Â
Reliving his pain from Super Bowl XLII wasn’t the only thing Brady touched on in the latest edition of #AskTom. Brady shared what caused his mishap in the broadcast booth during Sunday’s Los Angeles Rams-Philadelphia Eagles game, which player was the best trash talker he’s played against and which NBA player he’d like to see play in the NFL.
Here’s everything Brady said in this week’s #AskTom.Â
Whats going on in that giant book that you put on the mute button in the booth? Do you watch film to put that whole thing together?
Brady:Â It is endless amounts of information â six days of preparation: statistics, profiles, how I think the games going to be won, the strengths and weaknesses of each team, statistical anomalies and everything under the season.
 And guess what? I probably get to about 2% during the game. I always look back and go, “God, I had such a good point to make.” Youd be surprised, for a three-hour broadcast, how little of the prep I actually use. Its actually a little bit frustrating.
But its heavy enough that it can mute you for a good five seconds, huh?
Brady:Â I actually had the very heavy book, set it down and hit the mute TalkBack button. Then, I immediately went into a panic because I couldnt hear myself. I was scrambling. I threw my headset off. Then, Kevin [Burkhardt] gave me another headset. Put that on. Couldnt hear that, either.
Then, our sound engineer, Ben, came over and said, “Tom, you hit the TalkBack button.” And theres a big red button on my key panel. I was a bit embarrassed. I said, “You know what? Its like a quarterback fumbling a snap. Lets just get to the next play.”
One column Ive added just recently: Ive got my list of enemies of which I want to exact revenge from. Thats where that Buffalo comment came from.
Who was the best trash talker
