Ad Disclosure
NFL referee Jerome Boger explains questionable roughing the passer call for hit on Tom Brady
By Paul Harvey
Published:
NFL referee Jerome Boger was involved in a bit of controversy on Sunday. Late in the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons, quarterback Tom Brady was sacked on a critical 3rd-down play.
That sack stopped a Tampa Bay drive and was going to get the Falcons one final shot to score and win the game. However, Boger threw a flag on the hit.
Boger’s call? Roughing the passer on what appeared to be a clean wrap-up tackle on Brady.
Here’s what Boger said led to his call:
“What I had was a defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket and unnecessarily throwing him to the ground,” Boger explained per Josh Kendall with The Athletic. “That is what I was making my decision based upon.”
Sunday’s referee Jerome Boger to pool reporter @gregauman: “What I had was a defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket and unnecessarily throwing him to the ground. That is what I was making my decision based upon.”
— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) October 9, 2022
After the game, Brady was asked about the penalty but would only say he “doesn’t throw the flags.” He’s certainly not going to be sorry that a call helped his team get out of the weekend with a win.
It will be interesting to see if the NFL has anything to say on the matter down the road.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.