On Friday, the NFL reportedly fined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady $111,139 for a kicking attempt against the Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Grady Jarret in their Week 5 game.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Brady’s attempted kick to Jarrett resulted in a “controversial roughing the pass” call on that Sunday game. The incident happened when Jarrett lunged and sacked Brady in the backfield in a fourth-quarter snap near the end of the game.
NFL notified Buccaneers’ QB Tom Brady today that it is fining him $11,139 for kicking Grady Jarrett on the play in which the Falcons’ DL was penalized for unnecessary roughness, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 14, 2022
Schefter added that Brady was shown flinging his leg up to try to kick Jarrett after being sacked. Jarrett was getting off of him to celebrate his defensive performance. However, Brady did not appear to make contact with Jarrett, as reported by multiple sources.
As a result, officials called a roughing the passer penalty on Jarrett and he was flagged for the incident on third-and-five during the 3:03-minute mark. The penalty negated the play, and Tampa Bay restarted the first down attempt, leading to their 21-15 victory.
Brady has been fined before for attempting to kick another player during an NFL game. Previously, the league fined him $10,000 for attempting to kick former Baltimore Ravens’ safety Ed Reed in 2013.
Tom Brady has been fined $11,139 for attempting to kick Grady Jarrett on this play in which Jarrett was penalized for unnecessary roughness, per @AdamSchefterpic.twitter.com/KekNw4pSUm
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 14, 2022
According to Schefter, the Buccaneers’ head coach Todd Bowles said that he was unaware of the kick. However, Bowles also mentioned that he hoped the NFL could find a compromise between protecting the quarterback and allowing defensive players to make plays.
“We want to be able to play football, play it clean and play it safe,” Bowles said. “So, hopefully everybody will get together and we’ll come to some middle ground where we have an understanding of what we can and can’t do.”
On the other hand, when asked about Brady’s fine, the Falcons head coach Arthur Smith made no comment.
Brady, Jarrett’s comments
According to NFL.com’s Kevin Patra, Brady discussed Jarrett’s sack during a session on SiriusXM’s Let’s Go! Podcast. Brady described the play as “a long unwelcome hug from Grady”
Tom Brady:
"When they don't go your way, just complain to the refs like I do."
😂😂
via @Buccaneers pic.twitter.com/Dja1vZQNPj
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 13, 2022
“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.”
Despite being sacked by Jarrett, Brady said that he was happy about the win. He also applauded Jarrett’s play.
“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.”
Jarrett, however, said that he did not violate any rules by sacking Brady.
“When you do it the right way, that’s what makes it so frustrating because you did follow the rules,” he commented.
The roughing the pass call was the first of two during Week 5. The second call happened in the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders when the Chiefs’ defensive lineman Chris Jones sacked the Raiders’ QB Derek Carr. Jones forced a fumble and bump into Carr cleanly, but officials called it as a penalty, according to reports.
For the upcoming Week 6, Tampa Bay will have their road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.