Getty ESPN's Stephen A. Smith calls out Tom Brady over roughing-the-passer penalty.
Stephen A. Smith did not hold back about how he felt about the rough-the-passer call on Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett last Sunday.
With just three minutes left to go in the fourth, Jarrett sacked Brady, which could have given the Falcons an opportunity to pull off a come-from-behind win.
Instead, it resulted in an automatic first down for Tampa.
Earlier this week, Smith went on a rant about the controversial call during ESPN’s “First Take”:
“I’m not going to lie to you, and some people are gonna look at me and say I’m utterly crazy for saying this: I’m pretty damn ashamed of Tom Brady, too,” Smith said Monday during a “First Take” segment. “Tom Brady looked at the ref and was looking for a call. ‘Where’s the call?’ I know, win at all costs. But, damn, talk about taking the competitive fervor out of the mix. Win fairly. What are you looking at the referee for? You’re Tom Brady, you’re a seven-time champion. You know what kind of things you’ve endured throughout these years in the league. What the hell are you looking at the official to make a call on that play?”
Jarrett Declined to Speak to Media After the Loss
Instead of getting that change to advance to 3-2 on the season, the Falcons fell 21-15 to Tampa, chalking up three losses heading into Week 6.
Heated and confused by what had happened, Jarrett declined to speak to the media after the game.
However, he finally broke his silence on Tuesday morning’s The Grady Jarrett Show on 680-AM The Fan.
“I’m not saying that it cost us the game, but it cost us an opportunity to go win the game,” he said. “If it’s costing people games, it’s going to cost people’s livelihood’s, it’s costing people opportunity. You never know who will go down and make a crazy play. When people watch it to be entertained, they love to see some game-winning drives and then when you do it the right way, that’s what makes it so frustrating because you did follow the rules.
“And you didn’t do anything bad, so let’s get the game what the game is owed, and that’s the best product we can put on the field. That’s the thing that really drives you just a little crazy. In full speed, it may look more malicious than it really is because the refs are human as well, so let’s just take a little bit off the plate and be able to review something like that just for the defensive sake so we can get something.”
Brady Joked Over Penalty
As for Brady, he joked about what happened on Sunday during an appearance on SirusXM’s the Let’s Go! Podcast Monday when asked about the penalty.
“It was a long hug, a long unwelcome hug from Grady,” Brady said. “And he was in the backfield all day. So as I said after the games, I don’t throw flags. What I do throw is tablets, and I didn’t have one accessible at that time. He had a hell of a game. I’ll leave it at that.”
Unlike Brady, Jarrett didn’t find it too much, but Twitter did:
Loving the Passer
t.co/g6HKldDfXy
