Getty Tom Brady played through knee pain throughout the 2020 season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a remarkable offseason with their ability to ensure the entire starting lineup from the Super bowl returns in 2021, but Tom Brady’s recent comments about his knee injury could prompt the NFL to crack down on the franchise. During a June 9th press conference, Brady revealed his knee injury goes back to last spring which predates the 2020 season.
“It was an injury I dealt with really since last April, May,” Brady told reporters. “I knew I would have to do something at the end of the year and happy I did it. It was certainly something that needed to be done, and there’s a great outcome. So, I’m very happy about that. I feel that I’ll be able to do some different things than I was able to do last year.”
The NFL Has Disciplined Teams in the Past for Not Disclosing Injuries
As Pro Football Talk pointed out, the Buccaneers could find themselves in trouble for not disclosing Brady’s knee on the weekly injury report. The NFL has declined to comment on the Bucs revealing Brady’s knee injury after the Super Bowl, but the NFL has cracked down on teams for similar situations in the past as Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio detailed.
“In 2009, the NFL handed out multiple fines to the Jets for not disclosing Brett Favre’s partially torn biceps tendon in 2008,” Florio noted. “It happened because, as one league source explained it at the time, Favre’s constant comments about the undisclosed injury upon joining the Vikings forced the league to act. If the injury report is to have any integrity in an age of proliferating legalized gambling, the NFL may have to do so the same thing here, given Brady’s repeated admissions that point to a failure to properly disclose the knee injury that he so obviously had.”
Brady: ‘I Never Like to Talk About Injuries’
The good news for Bucs fans is Brady appears to be getting back to full strength, and it is notable that the quarterback was able to lead the team to the Super Bowl despite dealing with the knee injury throughout the season. Brady recently posted an Instagram video of himself throwing the football without a knee brace and running on the field without any sign of favoring his leg.
“Every player deals with different things, and I never like to talk about injuries,” Brady explained. “I’m a little bit old school in that way in that you deal with them and then you just make the most of ’em. The good part is I’ll be able to commit a lot of time to other parts [this season]. I’m sure I’ll be faced with different adversities this year but I had to spend a lot of time tending to that particular injury, which happens when you have something that you need to ultimately have surgery on to get fixed.”
If the Buccaneers are disciplined, it is unlikely to be for anything beyond a fine. Given the Bucs’ offensive success last season, it will be worth watching to see if the unit can be even better with a fully healthy Brady.