It’s easy to be jaded about the Tom Brady docuseries. The greatest of all-time has relentlessly been documenting his career over the last several years, just finishing a 10-part special that chronicles each of his Super Bowl trips. When news broke that Brady was co-producing a “30 for 30” about the tuck rule, the announcement was largely met with a collective shrug.
But those doubts were lifted the moment Brady and Charles Woodson throw their first verbal salvos towards each other. “The Tuck Rule” is fun, easy and not the least bit self-indulgent. There are no proverbs about the Chinese farmer or soliloquies about evaporating joy in this special.
It’s just two former teammates sitting down and debating one of the most controversial calls in NFL history, from the comfort of Brady’s beautiful sectional in his breathtaking $17 million South Florida mansion.
OK, so maybe there is a little self-indulgence. But that’s the price of Patriots porn.
It only takes a couple of minutes to see how jilted Woodson remains over the ruling, which he says cost his Raiders a chance to reach the Super Bowl, and start a dynasty of their own -- so he says. There are multiple scenes that feature Brady and Woodson sparring over the call, culminating in a living room reenactment where Brady admits a ball that falls out of a quarterback’s hand is usually called a fumble. …
“Or in this case, tuck rule.”
The headline from the special is Brady’s revelation that he thinks he would’ve started the 2002 season on the bench if the call went the other way. “They would say, ‘With Drew’s experience, that play doesn’t happen,’” Brady offers.
The divulgence indicates just how tenuously Brady still views his success, even after 22 years. He’s cognizant of the fact that achievements are fleeting.
Humorously, Bill Belichick, who makes multiple on-camera appearances, dispels Brady’s paranoia with his signature deadpan style.
“Yeah, I don’t think that would’ve changed,” he says.
Belichick is also the only person in the special who claims he never thought Brady fumbled the ball. After seeing the replay, Belichick says he knew the Patriots would get the ball back.
“I knew that play. That was the rule,” he says matter of factly.
The man who made the call, Walt Coleman, backs him up.
“It was an incomplete pass when it happened, and it’s an incomplete pass 20 years later,” he says at one point.
Woodson and scorned former Raiders lineman Lincoln Kennedy, however, are far less certain. “I was on the team that created Tom Brady. The legend that he is,” Kennedy says in one of his interviews.
This was a throwback version of “30 for 30:” an hourlong special about a singular signature moment in sports history. Brady and Woodson also rewatch the plays that led up to the infamous call, which gives Brady ample opportunities to pause the game and react with disgust at his mistakes.
“Oh my God, what am I doing? Throw the ball away!,” Brady yelps when he sees himself trying to scurry away from defenders in the driving snow.
At one point, Brady slows the tape down to point out he never noticed one of the Raiders’ defensive lineman was standing up to drop back in coverage — a detail he would’ve caught later in his career. If Brady were more experienced, Woodson might’ve never had the opportunity to knock the ball loose.
Brady would’ve gotten rid of it before that.
But he didn’t, and minutes later, the tuck rule was introduced to the world. It’s given us two decades of debate, and now, one hour of great TV.
