Getty Grady Jarrett No. 97 of the Atlanta Falcons.
On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons trailed Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-15 with just under three minutes on the clock remaining.
That’s when Falcons’ defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was flagged for “roughing the passer” on a third down sack on Bucs’ quarterback Tom Brady.
refs called this roughing the passer on 3rd down and i genuinely do not know what Grady Jarrett could have done differently
NFL Twitter went up in flames, calling it “bogus and “the worst call” in league history.
After the game, Jarrett declined to speak to the media while Brady just sort of glazed over what happened.
However, the two opened up about the moment a day later.
What Tom Brady Had to Say
On the SiriusXM’s Let’s Go! Podcast, Brady was asked about the controversial call.
“I just work here,” he joked.
“It was a long hug, a long unwelcome hug from Grady,” Brady continued. “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.”
Per league rules, roughing the passer is a foul in which a defender makes illegal contact with the quarterback after they have thrown a forward pass. The penalty is a loss of 15 yards for the defense and an automatic 1st down for the offense.
The NFL referee, Jerome Boger, defended his call by saying Jarrett grabbed Brady while he was still in the pocket and “unnecessarily” threw him to the ground.
“I woke up this morning, I was looking around the corner everywhere for Grady Jarrett jumping out and hitting me again,” Brady also joked. “He played such a good game against us yesterday and I had nightmares last night kind of thinking about him. But I’m glad we’re through with that game. I’m glad we won.”
What Grady Jarrett Had to Say
If the penalty was never called, then there’s a chance that the Falcons could have scored to win the game and put an end to Brady owning them with five straight wins. However, Jarrett knows that one play didn’t lose the game for them.
“I’m not saying that lost us the game,” Jarrett said October 11 during an interview on 680 The Fan. I’m saying all we wanted was an opportunity that we as a whole team, staff and organization earned in that moment, you know. That’s unfortunate that it had to go down like that.”
Jarrett added that he was in “disbelief” when it had happened, but being able to open up about it certainly gave him some relief.
“Right now. I feel better as far as being able to talk and communicate my emotions.”
He also hopes some “conversations will be had” between the NFL and Jerome Boger.
Jarrett finished the day with 2 total tackles and what should have been one sack. He currently has 3.5 sacks on the season, which is already a better start than last fall.
The Falcons moved to a 2-3 record so far and are set to take on the San Franciso 49ers at home in Week 6.