Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady explained his position on the new NFL number rule by sending an awkward mass text to his fans.
Tom Brady isn’t backing down from his stance that the new NFL number rule is bad for the game.
After posting his opinion that it would “make for a lot of bad football” on Instagram, the future Hall of Famer used his texting service to send a mass text explaining himself further.
“What’s up guys, happy Thursday. A bunch of people have texted asking why I don’t like the jersey # rule change, so shooting out this message out to answer,” Brady wrote.
“Basically, the whole point of the number limits are to help offenses and defenses both, identify who’s in a legal position and where people can go. What’s the point of the rule if you’re gonna keep expanding it?!”
Brady’s point is clear. It’s just not convincing.
Tom Brady keeps explaining his bad position on new numbers
No NFL player worth his salt will be unable to identify legal and illegal positions or blocking assignments without the old number restrictions.
In fact, those old restrictions had already been expanded over the years. The difference now is mostly everyone can wear single digits.
The new number rule keeps limitations on the numbers offensive linemen and defensive linemen can wear because those are the positions that need to be easily identified by officials.
In any case, number restrictions were causing actual problems for teams. Expanded practice squads and retired numbers can make the whole number thing more complicated than it has to be.
For the record, Brady launched his texting service back in March as a way to connect with Buccaneers fans (and to promote brands and products). So at least he can explain his bad opinions directly.