Super Bowl rigged claims surface as Tom Brady calls refs into question after controversy

AJ Brown’s huge gainer for the Eagles was called back by the officials, leaving Tom Brady baffled© Reach Publishing Services Limited

Tom Brady admitted he did not like the call from the officials after bringing back a huge gain for Philadelphia Eagles’ AJ Brown on the first drive of the Super Bowl.

On 4th-and-2, Eagles quarterback threw it up to Brown as he managed to bring down the catch, but the referee had thrown a flag immediately. Replays had shown that Brown had made contact with Trent McDuffie’s helmet, but it had only been minimal. The referee’s had called offensive pass interference, bringing it back 10 yards and forcing the Eagles to punt.

Brady, as well as former official Mike Pereira had disagreed with the call, as the legendary quarterback had said: “I don’t like that call at all, so early in the game.”

In the Eagles second drive though, the officials appeared to more than make up for their previous call against them. On a third down play, the referee’s had called McDuffie for a pass interference of his own after hitting Dallas Goedert in the head, again which looked to be minimal contact.

After that penalty, Brady had said: “I don’t like that one either. I just think you throw the ball high and he barely gets hit by the defense.”

Both sets of fans had complained about the calls against their teams, with the general consensus appearing to be that both should not have been called for penalties.

Tom Brady flexed a watch worth almost double the average price of a home in the U.S.© Getty Images

Many have argued that the Chiefs have been on the receiving end of some favorable calls throughout the playoffs this season, with commissioner Roger Goodell even addressing the idea that the NFL might be rigged in their favor.

Goodell said: “This sort of reminds me a little bit of the script… That I write a script, and I have the script for the entire season … I think it reflects a lot of the fans’ passion, and I think it also is a reminder for us how important officiating is. And I think the men and women that officiate the NFL are outstanding. They have the highest possible standards.

“Our officials are evaluated in several ways. It’s not just the performance on the field, but it’s things that go on in their own lives, and we have a very tight control over that. We monitor that very closely in a number of ways.”

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