3 times Tom Brady got away with unsportsmanlike conduct after unfair calls by referees

Tom Brady is one of, if not the, most respected quarterbacks to ever play in the position. With that comes an advantage in certain aspects of the game.

Whenever you mention Tom Brady and referees, you can certainly think of a time when the officials gave the quarterback and his team an advantage. The Bucs' No. 12 himself knows that he gets some help from referees from time-to-time. In fact, on a recent episode of his "Let's Go" podcast with Jim Gray, he admitted that officials let him get away with unsportsmanlike conduct.

"I do know that [the officials] probably let me get away with a lot of unsportsmanlike conducts, talking smack to the other team and talking smack to the refs when I don’t think I get the right call,” the 44-year-old admitted. “I’m kind of a pain in their a** if you don’t already know that.”

Let's take a look at three incidents where the refs helped the quarterback out.

Tom Brady's fortunate escapes thanks to NFL referees

#1 - The Derek Barnett penalty in the divsional round

This was the most recent incident where the refs helped Brady out on a play. In the first quarter of their wild-card matchup against the Eagles, which the Bucs won 31-15, Tampa Bay got a nice roughing the passer call their way. Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett lightly bumped into Brady after he threw the ball, resulting in a questionable 15-yard roughing the passer call. Joe Buck even agreed during the broadcast, saying, "You can't go low, but come on!"

#2 - The infamous Tuck Rule

It was quite possibly the most controversial call in NFL history, and it was what jump-started Brady's successful career.

With under two minutes left in the AFC Divisional Playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders in January 2002, Brady was hit by defensive back Charles Woodson who knocked the ball out of his hands, resulting in a fumble recovered by Oakland.

Upon further review, the refs ruled it an incomplete pass due to the tuck rule which states: "When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble."

#3 - Week 14 win against the Bills; the pass interference and the non-pass interference calls

The Buccaneers improved to 10-3 following their Week 14 overtime victory over the Bills with a scoreline of 33-27, in which Brady threw a beautiful game-winning touchdown pass to Breshad Perriman. There were a bunch of bogus calls on Buffalo for pass interference (Levi Wallace on Mike Evans) and a lot of non-calls on the Bucs (Stefon Diggs being held by Carlton Davis).