After the controversial unsportsmanlike call against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 27:30 loss in the NFL Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams, referee Shawn Hochuli has now spoken out about the incident. According to the report, Brady insulted him.

Munich/Tampa Bay – The narrative that superstars like Tom Brady are favoured by referees was put to the test in the playoff duel between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams.

After a hard hit by linebacker Von Miller caught Brady on the chin with his helmet, causing the seven-time Super Bowl champion to bleed, a heated discussion ensued between the Buccaneers quarterback and the referees.

Tom Brady insults referees

Miller certainly shouldn’t have complained about a roughing-the-passer call, as Brady had clearly thrown the ball away earlier. Accordingly, the 44-year-old reacted angrily when he got back up with a bleeding lip and saw no yellow flag on the ground.

As could be seen in the replay of the scene, he stormed towards the referee crew with a red head and let his displeasure run free. For that, he subsequently collected a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct that moved the Buccaneers’ offense back 15 yards.

As referee Shawn Hochuli explained afterwards, Brady apparently lost his temper: “He got aggressive with me and insulted me,” the official said. On the other hand, he did not consider the hit against Brady to be worthy of punishment: “We did not think it was a roughing-the-passer call,” he concluded.

In Brady’s glorious career, it was the first time ever that he received a flag against him for unsportsmanlike conduct. For him, the game ended in a doubly unfortunate way: the Buccaneers lost the game in the last second and were eliminated from the playoffs early; despite a mad dash from 3:27 to a 27:27 just before the end.