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NFL Referee Jerome Boger has defended his decision to penalize the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after fans called his choice to mark Grady Jarrett’s firing over Tom Brady “the worst decision ever.” .
Jarrett, a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end, was sanctioned for roughing the passerby with three minutes and three seconds left on the clock, after what many saw as a legal looting late in the fourth quarter of Atlanta’s 21-15 loss. against Tampa.
The 6-foot, 305-pound Jarrett wrapped Brady from behind in third and spun him to the ground—a tackle similar in style to the one that injured Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but not nearly as violently.
“What I had was the defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket and threw him to the ground unnecessarily,” Boger said in a post-game report. “I made my decision on that.”
Referee Jerome Boger backed his verdict to penalize Falcons for a Q4 twisting passer call
Boger, who has served as an NFL referee since 2004, marked Grady Jarrett’s resignation over Tom Brady
The league’s third black umpire to serve in the NFL since 2004 added that he had “not necessarily” been instructed to keep a close eye on quarterbacks’ pockets after Tagovailoa’s concussion earlier this season.
Brady ignored questions about the conversation, telling reporters after the game, “I’m not throwing flags,” while Jarrett declined to comment after the game, but his actions exposed his frustration.
He slammed a trash can and a drinks cooler as he repeated an expletive several times in the tunnel and hallway on his way to the locker room. He said he would discuss the call on his Tuesday radio show.
Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles didn’t think Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, was getting any special treatment for the game. But he thought the fallout from Tagovailoa’s concussion – suffered amid a string of events this week that led to changes to the league’s concussion protocol – may have influenced the call.
‘I saw that he was called. I saw it against Tua. I saw it in the London game this morning,” Bowles said. “I think they’re starting to tackle some things, like swinging quarterbacks. As they call it now, I think a lot of people would have gotten that call.”
“The safety of the competition is at an all-time high, as it should be,” he added. “Anything that comes close, that we understand goes in the ball game, they’ll call it.”
Tom Brady threw for 351 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 21-15 win over the Falcons
Several Falcons fans have quashed Boger’s call, with some of them labeling it a firing offense
The Falcons saw it differently.
“From my point of view it looked like it was a bad call, but that’s why you brought the refs in to make these calls,” said defending defender Casey Hayward Jr.. “They pay these guys to make those calls. It looked bad to me, but I was in the back.’
Smith said he “wouldn’t go into that.”
Meanwhile, fans also took to social media to scold Brady after he appeared to kick Jarrett multiple times during Sunday’s game.
The most notable moment was right after Jarrett fired Brady in the fourth quarter for roughing the passer game. Brady immediately kicked his legs in the air after rolling to the ground as the Falcons’ defenses rose to their feet.
Before that, Brady also seemed to have side-kicked Jarrett on another move as both players were on the ground and tangled.
QB, 45, was also accused of kicking Garrett several times during the match
Former NFL security Ryan Clark, who now works as an ESPN analyst, told the network’s “Get Up” program that he believes Brady deliberately provoked Jarrett with his kicking antics.
Mike Greenberg, Clark’s colleague at ESPN, agreed, going so far as to say Brady “deserved a punishment.”
“Anyone who does that gives the guy on the ground a penalty,” Greenberg added.
Sunday’s game went through the basket and the Buccs came out on top in the end. The win brought Brady and Tampa to a 3-2 record of the season, while Atlanta fell to 2-3.