Tom Brady will play in the ninth AFC Championship Game of his career on Sunday. According to Ray Lewis, he has a now-stricken bylaw in the NFL rulebook to thank for his vast success.


Lewis, the former Ravens linebacker who now serves as an analyst for ESPN, told Sirius XM Mad Dog Radio that Brady built his Hall of Fame legacy on a fortuitous call from officials in a divisional playoff matchup against the Raiders in 2002.

"When we -- the first time we created something called a tuck rule, it's the only reason we know -- I'm just being honest -- the only reason we know who Tom Brady is, because of a tuck rule," Lewis said. "There's no such thing as a tuck rule! If the ball is in your hand, and I knock it out your hand, whether it's going backwards, forwards, lateral, sideways, however it's coming out, that's a freaking fumble."

source: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000458877/article/ray-lewis-we-wouldnt-know-brady-without-tuck-rule


Oh please. I hate the Patriots and even I can admit that Brady is one of the best Quarterbacks of the last decade. While I agree that the tuck rule was a bit of a joke, theres really no question about how good Tom Brady is. Maybe a big part of it is the scheme, Cassel was very effective the year Brady was out, but even saying that being able to fit into the scheme and hold it together for as long as they did makes him special.