Munich/Tampa Bay – The narrative that superstars like Tom Brady are favored by the referees was put to the test in the playoff duel between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams.
After a hard hit from linebacker Von Miller, who caught Brady on the chin with his helmet and caused the seven-time Super Bowl champion to bleed, the Buccaneers quarterback and the umpires had a heated argument.
Tom Brady insults referee
Miller certainly shouldn’t have complained about a roughing the passer call since Brady clearly threw the ball away beforehand. The 44-year-old reacted correspondingly angry when he got up again with a bleeding lip and saw no yellow flag on the ground.
As can be seen in the repetition of the scene, he stormed towards the referee crew with a red face and let his displeasure run free. He then received a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct, which pushed the Buccaneers’ attack back 15 yards.
As referee Shawn Hochuli subsequently explained, Brady apparently mistook the tone: “He became aggressive towards me and insulted me,” said the official. However, he did not see the hit against Brady as punishable: “We did not think it was a roughing-the-passer call,” he concluded.
It was the first time ever in Brady’s glorious career that he was flagged against himself for unsportsmanlike conduct. The game ended doubly unluckily for him: the Buccaneers lost the game at the last second and were eliminated from the playoffs early; despite a crazy catch-up from 3:27 to a 27:27 just before the end.
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