If you ask ex-Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis, quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is only known today because of the tuck rule.
Lewis, who ironically called Brady the NFL's best player in 2011, appeared on the "Stephen A. Smith Show" on Tuesday and made his comment about Brady while lambasting the league for its myriad rules.
"The only reason we know who Tom Brady is, because of a tuck rule," Lewis said, according to NESN. "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.
"But guess what we created? We created a freaking tuck rule!"
Lewis was given a chance to clarify his remark but stood by it, saying New England wouldn't have gone to the Super Bowl in 2002 if it weren't for the tuck rule.
The rule Lewis referenced came in the aftermath of a play during the 2001 AFC divisional between New England and the Oakland Raiders. As Brady dropped back to pass in the fourth quarter of the game, the ball was knocked out of his hand and recovered by Oakland. Although initially ruled a fumble, the call was overturned and ruled an incomplete pass. The referee's reasoning for reversing the initial call was because of the tuck rule, which the league eliminated in March 2013.
Brady and the Patriots eventually defeated Oakland and went on to become Super Bowl champions, the first of Brady's three championships.
