On Monday, the National Football League suspended Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee for the rest of the season for the hit that knocked Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
But Tom Brady disagrees with the suspension. In fact, Brady thinks blame should lay at the feed of Colts QB Gardner Minshew.
Brady took to Instagram to defend Kazee, calling the suspension wrong while also saying that Minshew bears responsibility for throwing a pass that put Pittman in position to get laid out by the hit.
“Nobody likes seeing players get hurt. But hard hits happen. QBs should not be throwing the ball in areas where they are exposing their own teammates to these types of hits. Coaches need to coach better, QBs needs to read coverages and throw the ball to the right places and defenders should aim for the right hitting areas. To put the blame on the defense player all the time is just flat out wrong. Need better QB play!! It’s not OK QBs to get your WRs hit because of your bad decisions!”
In his letter Monday, the NFL said Kazee has violated player safety rules “on a repeated basis,” thus making it “appropriate to impose substantially greater penalties.” Kazee, 30, had already been fined five times this season for such violations, each time for $11,806. Assuming he sits out the Steelers’ final three games, he will forfeit approximately $208,000 in game checks.
Kazee can appeal the suspension, which would go to Derrick Brooks or James Thrash, former NFL players who now are hearing officers jointly appointed by the league and the players union.
