Danny Kanell caused quite a stir Friday during his ESPN radio show with Ryen Russillo.
The former Florida State and NFL quarterback was discussing Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots when he came up with a controversial idea.
Kanell suggested the Broncos should try to send a message to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady by hitting him after the whistle early on and taking any penalties that would come with such actions.
“I think they have to have two personal foul calls, like 15-yarders against Brady,” Kanell said. “Like, they’ve been talking about him crying, I almost feel like this is the type of game where you have to send a message like in the first and second quarter, the first half, hit him a couple of times where it’s a little past the whistle. Like, let him know you’re around. Get those knock downs, get those hits on him, make him aware that you’re coming after him.
“I’m saying you’re gonna take the hit, you’re going to hit him late and you’re going to get a flag called on you for hitting him late. … It’s one of those games where you’re like in the first half, you know what, if it’s close and you get a good. … I’m not saying dirty, but questionable. You gotta push the envelope. I would almost challenge them to like be like ‘You know what, get a 15-yarder in the first half. Draw a line somewhere, but say ‘We have to send a message.'”
As Awful Announcing pointed out, Kanell did go on to say that he wasn’t advocating for a late hit that would intentionally hurt Brady. Instead, his point was all about trying to send a message with some questionable early shots.
You can hear the entire exchange in the audio player below.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
