Tag: Jerome Boger

Longtime NFL referee Jerome Boger announces retirement

The NFL announced that longtime referee Jerome Boger is retiring. No one has officiated more New Orleans Saints games over the last five years than him:

So long, Jerome Boger. The NFL announced that one of its longest-tenured referees is stepping away from the game and beginning retirement, which is big news for New Orleans Saints fans. Boger had 19 years of experience in officiating NFL games, and no one refereed more Saints games in recent years than he did.

Boger was on the field for five Saints games during the last two seasons, and nine of their contests dating back to 2018, including the postseason. And the black and gold went 6-3 in those contests despite some baffling officiating decisions by Boger and his crew. The list of referees that fans in New Orleans saw in five or more games during that five-year span includes:

  1. 9 games – Jerome Boger (6-3)
  2. 8 games – Carl Cheffers (6-2)
  3. 7 games – John Hussey (6-1), Brad Rogers (3-4)
  4. 6 games – Shawn Hochuli (2-4)
  5. 5 games – Craig Wrolstad (5-0), Ron Torbert (4-1), Alex Kemp (3-2), and Brad Allen (3-2)

Some of Boger’s calls led to fans at home hollering at their TV’s, but the Saints were successful in many of the games he officiated. We’ll see how things go for them without Boger in the lineup moving forward.

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Taylor Lewan honors Jerome Boger’s retirement in the best way

Ex-Titans LT Taylor Lewan shared a legendary 2018 video of him cussing out Jerome Boger in honor of the referee’s retirement.

The NFL revealed on Thursday that a slew of referees were announcing their retirement from the league, and I quickly scrolled through looking for one name in particular.

That name was Jerome Boger, the NFL referee who has been the bane of the Tennessee Titans’ — and really, the rest of the league’s — existence over his 19 seasons on the job.

Boger and his crew had become infamous for getting calls wrong on the regular, something the Titans were no doubt victims of. In fact, we’ve so lovingly referred to getting screwed by him and his crew as “Boger’d.”

Upon learning of Boger’s retirement, former Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan shared a 2018 video of him cursing out the veteran official and his crew following a narrow victory over the New York Jets.

“It’s frustrating, man,” Lewan said after the game. “It’s frustrating with some of those calls… There were just some absolutely ridiculous calls.”

For his outburst, Lewan was fined by the league, but the moment will go down as one of the greats when it comes to player interactions with refs.

NFL officiating can be a dumpster fire at times, and Boger was definitely one of the faces of that. While we definitely wish him the best in retirement, the league’s officiating is now at least a bit better off.

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Quartet of NFL officials plan to retire

Four NFL officials have to decided to step away from the game

Four NFL officials are retiring.

The most recognizable name is referee Jerome Boger, who has been with the league for 19 years.

The others exiting are down judge Jerry Bergman, line judge Walt Coleman, back judge Steven Patrick.

Eagles cheated out of must-have touchdown by bogus holding call on Landon Dickerson

The Eagles were cheated out of a crucial touchdown after Jerome Boger’s crew saw a holding call that wasn’t there.

Another week, another example of officials deciding plays, drives, and games in ways they should not. Perhaps it’s recency bias, but it seems to be happening this season more than ever. In this case, it happened with 11:12 left in the first half of the Philadelphia Eagles’ game against the New Orleans Saints. The Eagles had third-and-4 at the New Orleans 28-yard line, down 13-0, and it certainly appeared as if running back Kenneth Gainwell scored Philly’s first touchdown of the day on a 28-yard scamper.

Not so fast, as they say. It was decided by the officiating crew directed by referee Jerome Boger that guard Landon Dickerson somehow committed holding against defensive tackle Kentavius Street.

You tell us where the holding is there. On the next play after that should-have-been touchdown was negated, quarterback Gardner Minshew threw incomplete to receiver A.J. Brown, and it was up to kicker Jake Elliott to boot a 56-yard field goal, which he did.

The Eagles are trying to wrap up the NFC’s one-seed and home-field advantage through the playoffs, so it’s not as if this is an important game or anything.

If you’re familiar with Boger’s work in other areas, it should come as little surprise that his crew was on the wrong side of this one.

NFL assigns veteran referee Jerome Boger to work Saints-Eagles in Week 17

The NFL has assigned veteran referee Jerome Boger to work Week 17’s Saints-Eagles game. New Orleans is 12-9 for games with Boger on the field:

Here we go. The NFL has assigned veteran referee Jerome Boger to work Week 17’s  game between the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles. Boger is one of the most-experienced on-field officials you’ll find these days, having been promoted to referee way back in 2006 after working a few years as a line judge in the NFL. New Orleans has a 12-9 record in games with Boger on the mic; they most recently worked with him in their prime-time loss to the Arizona Cardinals, in which the Saints were outscored 42-34

The black and gold were hamstrung by a pair of first-half Andy Dalton interceptions returned for touchdowns by the Cardinals defense in that one. But New Orleans was also fouled 8 times for 49 yards, whereas Arizona drew 4 penalties for 20 yards — the Cardinals were given as many first downs by penalty (3) as they converted on third downs (where they went 3-for-10) in the evening. Hopefully the Saints can do a better job of staying out of their own way this time.

Boger’s crew has thrown more penalty flags for offensive holding and false starts (27 each) than any other foul, with defensive holding infractions (17) in a distant third-place. While they rank among the least flag-happy crews around the league (averaging just 11.2 penalties per game, tied for fifth-fewest), they do lead the NFL’s officials in defensive holding fouls per game (1.21), so the Saints secondary needs to mind their hands.

If you’re curious, New Orleans has drawn more fouls for false starts (24) and defensive holding (14) than any other team in the league going into Week 17. They are tied for the third-fewest offensive holding fouls (11), so that shouldn’t be as big of an issue. Hopefully.

On the other hand, Philadelphia stands right in the middle of the pack for offensive holding (17 penalties, tied for fifteenth), false starts (16, tied for fourteenth), and defensive holding (6, tied for seventeenth). So this should be more of a typical day in the office for the Eagles, whereas the Saints need to watch out for themselves. Boger’s crew doesn’t throw many penalty flags, but the fouls they do look out for are some that New Orleans has struggled to clean up all season.

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Browns vs. Bengals: Jerome Boger’s officiating crew gives little to enjoy in first half

This game between the Browns and Bengals is an unwatchable product.

The Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals are at halftime of a relatively boring game as the score sits at just 13-3. This divisional matchup between the Browns vs. Bengals has been marred by a barrage of flags thrown by Jerome Boger and his crew. All-in-all, there have been 10 total flags thrown, seven of them on the Browns.

On the first scoring drive for Cincinnati as well, the Browns were penalized for a total of 58 yards in total. While a 15-yard roughing the punter call was warranted, the Bengals got a gift on a 33-yard defensive pass interference call down the field, and a Browns’ sack was negated on a soft hands to the face call. Right before the half, another huge third down sack was negated by offsetting penalties as well. The Bengals then went on to score.

This game has been an unwatchable product due to the control the officials are showing with their yellow flags.

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Jaguars DC Mike Caldwell isn’t worried about roughing the passer rules

The Jaguars’ Week 6 game against the Colts will be officiated by Jerome Boger, a ref who has a reputation for bad roughing calls.

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travon Walker made a massive mistake in Week 5 when he slung Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills down on a dead play after jumping offsides. Just like that, a third-and-20 situation turned into a first down that gave the Texans offense life.

It was an easy call for officials to make and it set up Houston for its only touchdown of the game. Against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6, the Jaguars might have to worry about the not-so-easy calls.

Assigned to referee the AFC South matchup is Jerome Boger, the official responsible for the worst roughing the passer call so far this season.

Making matters worse for the Jaguars is the fact that home teams typically fare well when Boger is the referee.

That could be a bad combo for a Jaguars team that didn’t have much difficulty getting to Matt Ryan, the NFL’s most sacked quarterback this season, back in Week 2. Defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell isn’t too worried about it, though.

“You can’t pull them down, horsecollar him in the pocket, but there are certain ways you have to land on a quarterback or try not to land on a quarterback,” Caldwell said Thursday. “We’ve gone over that and they understand it. It’s tough for a defensive player, but that’s what we’ve got to do—abide by the rules.

“If it’s your quarterback, you want him to have as much protection as possible. If you’re going after the quarterback, you want to go get him. It’s interpretation by the referees, and it’s a tough job that they have to do. We have to understand what we can do, how we can help our team. Just teach them the rules, let them understand what they can and can’t do and go from there.”

The Jaguars haven’t been called for roughing the passer (Walker’s penalty was unnecessary roughness) since Dawuane Smoot hit Carson Wentz late in a Week 1 loss to the Washington Commanders.

4-Down Territory: Rookie CBs, Packers in trouble, NFC Best, and roughing the passer!

On this week’s 4-Down Territory: Rookie cornerbacks, the Packers in trouble, the NFC East as the NFC Best, and horrible roughing the passer calls!

Every week in “4-Down Territory,” Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling of Bucs Wire and Draft Wire go over the things you need to know about, and the things you need to watch, in the NFL right now. With Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season in the books, there was a lot to cover!

This week, Doug and Luke discuss:

  1. Which of the five rookie cornerbacks who had interceptions on Sunday has been most impressive through the season so far;
  2. Why the Packers are in trouble, and how they can turn things around;
  3. Whether the NFC East has become the best division in football after years of justifiable “NFC Least” jokes; and
  4. What it will take for the NFL to get roughing the passer calls right.

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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Referee Jerome Boger gave a super lame explanation for awful roughing call in Bucs-Falcons

Enough is enough, NFL!

The Atlanta Falcons are going to have a tough time getting over Sunday’s Week 5 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the postgame remarks from referee Jerome Boger won’t make that flight home any easier for Arthur Smith’s team.

After falling down 21-0, the Falcons battled back to get within six points. And with just under three minutes to play in the game, Grady Jarrett did about everything he could to sack Tom Brady cleanly on third down to force what should have been a punting situation.

That was when Boger jumped in to flip the game upside down. He called one of the worst roughing the passer calls you’ll see in an NFL game. And worst of all: He stood by his call in the postgame pool report.

According to Boger, he saw Jarrett “unnecessarily” throw Brady to the ground when replays showed Jarrett wrap Brady up from the hip while in pursuit and simply complete the tackle.

Again, Jarrett didn’t throw Brady as he had the Bucs quarterback wrapped up through the entire motion of the tackle. It was a terrible call and arguably an even worse explanation from a ref who’s been known to botch roughing calls.

NFL fans had heard enough from Boger after his latest remarks.

Referee Jerome Boger fails to understand roughing the passer… again

For the second straight week, referee Jerome Boger’s incorrect roughing the passer call cost one team a chance to win a game.

NFL officials are not very good at differentiating between what is roughing the passer and what is not roughing the passer. Those officials are not helped by the league’s rulebook, which gives the parameters of the penalty, and then tells officials to do this:

When in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic against the passer, the Referee should always call roughing the passer.

So, maybe that’s why Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Grady Jarrett got absolutely robbed on this roughing the passer call as he sacked Tom Brady with 3:03 left in the game.

If you can tell us what constitutes roughing the passer here, you’re smarter than we are. Jarrett rolled Brady to the ground, but there was no extracurricular activity, and at no point was Brady’s head in danger.

Even Brady wanted no part of this discussion.

Worst of all, this penalty was a game-changer. The Buccaneers had third-and-five from the Atlanta 47-yard line, and the sack would have forced the Buccaneers to punt, up 21-15. But the “penalty” gave the Bucs first-and-10 at the Atlanta 32-yard line, and from there, Tampa Bay was able to bleed the clock to the win.

We are not saying that the Falcons would have won if they had gotten the ball back. But we are saying that the Bucs benefited from a roughing the passer call that was both ridiculous and egregious, and the crew, led by Jerome Boger, completely blew the call.

Not that this would be the second time in a week that Boger’s crew blew such a call in a situation that could have been game-changing. In Week 4, Boger and his crew called roughing on Baltimore Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens when it wasn’t, and that was a killer in a game against the Buffalo Bills that the Ravens lost.

Jerome Boger’s ridiculous roughing the passer call cost Ravens dearly in loss to Bills

Boger doubled down then, and he doubled down after the Bucs-Falcons game in ways that just didn’t jibe with the tape.

The NFL really needs to get its arms around the loose nature of this penalty as it’s written, so that officials of Boger’s caliber have the guardrails they clearly need to call things correctly on the field.