Brady claimed that football needs to remain a “physical sport.”

THE infamous NFL hip-drop tackle could soon be a thing of the past.

Baltimore Ravens star Mark Andrews became the latest injury victim to the controversial play last week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Mark Andrews suffered a serious injury after a hip-drop tackle
3

Mark Andrews suffered a serious injury after a hip-drop tackleCredit: Getty

Patrick Mahomes was injured on a similar play last season
3

Patrick Mahomes was injured on a similar play last seasonCredit: Getty

Fans cited Tom Brady calling the game 'soft' after reports the tackle could be banned
3

Fans cited Tom Brady calling the game ‘soft’ after reports the tackle could be bannedCredit: Getty
Andrews looks set to miss the remainder of the campaign after limping out of Thursday Night Football.

It follows a spate of injuries linked to the tackling technique, which sees a player wrap their arms around an opponent’s waist.

They then drag the player down from the side or rear, usually landing with their full body weight on their opponent’s legs.

League executive Jeff Miller has previously claimed the hip-drop tackle increases risk of injury by 25 times the rate of a standard tackle, per NFL.com.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was injured by a similar play which almost kept him out of the 2022 Super Bowl.

And now NFL Insider Peter King believes the league could move to ban the tackle in the offseason.

Per Bleacher Report, NBC reporter King said: “I expect the NFL to move aggressively to erase the hip-drop tackle this offseason.

“The league has found it to occur approximately once per game, so maybe 300 times a season.”

Fans were divided though, with plenty bringing up Tom Brady’s recent tirade against the modern NFL.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion told his podcast Let’s Go last month that football was going “too soft.”

Brady said: “Football is a physical sport, there’s a physical element to all of this.

“You throw a 15-yard flag for something that, you know, 20 years ago maybe wouldn’t have had a flag. That affects the game in a big way.”

In response to King’s claims, one fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “The NFL needs to listen to Tom Brady. Game is getting too damned soft.”

While another said: “Stop changing the game. Might as well be flag football now.”

But a third countered: “Way too late .. should have been a rule this year.”

And a fourth agreed: “Player safety comes first.”