There’s been a lot of conversation in the past 24 hours centered around a controversial roughing the passer call near the end of Sunday’s Falcons-Buccaneers game.
Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was on the receiving end of the penalty heard ‘round the NFL world after sacking Tom Brady on third-and-5 from the Atlanta 47-yard line with less than three minutes left in the contest. The play effectively ended the game as Tampa Bay was awarded a first down, and ran out the rest of the clock to seal a 21-15 victory.
After the game, Brady offered a simply reply when asked about the reply, telling reporters, “I don’t throw the flags.” The Bucs quarterback was a bit more animated, however, while discussing the controversial call with Jim Gray on the newest episode of his Let’s Go! podcast.
“It was a long hug. A long unwelcomed hug from Grady,” Brady told Gray, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “He was in the backfield all day. As I said after the game, I don’t throw flags.”
The future Hall of Famer then delivered a classic callback to his now infamous tablet-breaking tirades against the Saints in Week 2, and in Week 15 last season.
“What I do throw is tablets and I didn’t have one accessible at the time,” Brady joked before praising Jarrett’s performance. “He had a hell of a game, I’ll leave it at that.’’
While Brady already seems to see the humor in game-ending sequence, many NFL fans felt the refs mired the matchup by costing Atlanta a chance at a possible victory. The public outcry for an explanation eventually led to one from official Jerome Boger, though the reasoning may not be enough for Falcons fans still eager to see Brady take his first L against their squad after improving to 11-0 all-time.
“What I had was the defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket, and unnecessarily throwing him to the ground,” Boger told reporters of what he saw that led to the flag being thrown. “That is what I was making my decision based upon.”
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