What did NFL referee Jerome Boger say about his ‘roughing’ call after tackle on Tom Brady?
With his comments not exactly convincing, is there reason to believe that the hit on the Dolphins QB played was a factor in the flag on the Brady tackle?
This is definitely not the first time that these accusations have been leveled at the seven-time Super Bowl winner, but this time comments from the official who made the call make the situation a lot more interesting.
NFL referee Jerome Boger explains ‘the’ Tom Brady roughing call
While it was not the central cause of their failed comeback in Sunday’s contest against the Buccaneers, the Falcons are likely to still be very angry, about what is now widely seen as a very controversial third-down roughing -the-passer penalty against Tom Brady. Indeed, fans and analysts alike have been raging eve since with the general consensus being, that the flag was totally unnecessary. Falcons DL Grady Jarrett was seen to takedown the star quarterback in routine fashion. Indeed, at no point did Brady’s head make contact with either Jarrett or the field. That, however, was not the way official Jerome Boger saw it. Asked about his call, Boger maintained that the only thing unnecessary was the manner in which Jarrett tackled the seven-time Super Bowl winner.
“What I had,” Boger said when asked why the tackle deserved a penalty, “was the defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket, and unnecessarily [threw] him to the ground. That is what I was [basing] my decision...upon.” Interestingly, Boger was also asked if the recent hit on the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa had in anyway factored into the decision taken by him and his crew of officials. Tagovailoa of course, suffered a concussion on the play in which he was swung down into the turf. Boger’s response was a curious “No, not necessarily.”
Could there be a link between Tua’s injury and the Tom Brady call?
To begin with, while there are some similarities between Jarrett’s sack of Brady and the hit which ended in Tagovailoa’s concussion, there are some key differences. Namely, the fact that unlike Tua’s head which clearly banged into the ground, Brady’s head - we mentioned this before - never made impact with either Jarret who tackled him, or the ground into which he was flung. What raises eyebrows even further is the fact that officials appeared to only flag the play after Brady began to complain about its legality. Once again, it should be said that Jarrett’s tackled which was neither high nor low was textbook.
Ultimately, we all know what came after. With the call not going in the Falcons’ favor, the Bucs were able to maintain possession of the ball for longer, which effectively insured their win. Trailing by six and just under three minutes left in the game, Tampa Bay went on to win the game 21-15 and with that stay at No. 1 in the NFC South.