Steelers' Damonte Kazee Suspended Rest of Season for Vicious Hit on Colts' Michael Pittman Jr., Tom Brady Blames Gardner Minshew
If this hit had happened in 2003, the next day on ESPN, Tom Jackson and the boys would have proudly screamed, "JACKED UP!" at the top of their lungs. Then confetti would fall from the ceiling, a Mariachi band would appear from behind the scenes, and Michael Irvin would jump on the desk and helicopter his dick around. Things were different back then. Men could be men. But that's not the world we live in anymore. As a defensive back you just can't leave your feet at full speed and launch yourself head first into a wide receiver with the intention of breaking his body in half.
It's still tough to put all of the blame on the Damonte Kazee. Everything moves fast out there. You don't always know exactly where your opponent is. Had Gardner Minshew thrown a slightly better/safer ball, there's a good chance he hits Pittman square in the numbers. As a matter of fact, Tom Brady puts a majority of the blame on Minshew.
That's a fair point to make. However, if you're Gardner Minshew, I imagine it's a little annoying to hear that coming from the greatest quarterback in the history of the sport. Do you know how fucking hard it is to play quarterback?
"Ok, sure Tom. Let me just be the best quarterback in the world and know exactly where all 21 other people are on the field at all times, and put the ball exactly where I want to every throw. That shouldn't be too hard to do in the National Football League."
Easier said than done when your Tom Brady. That's why Michael Jordan could never coach anyone up. He didn't understand why players couldn't simply be better at basketball. Half of the quarterbacks starting in the NFL right now are just praying that a receiver opens up for even a tenth of a second, and then maybe, just maybe they can put a football somewhere in their general vicinity. If they can do that 20 times a game it's a miracle. Now they have to keep their receivers alive too?! You think a quarterback like Zach Wilson has anywhere close to the mental processing power/arm talent to throw safe passes? Let's be realistic Tom.
Still, he's not wrong. The quarterback has to take a little bit of the blame. But as long as football is being played, quarterbacks will be throwing suicide passes, and receivers will be getting their heads taken off. Refs can throw defenders out of the game all they want. That might them start thinking twice, but those hits are never going to be fully preventable. It's almost like football is a dangerous game.